GB: Unexpected Allies
by WayWardWonderer
Summary: After an experiment with a prototype trap goes awry Dr. Ray Stantz finds himself stranded in a parallel New York with a completely different kind of Ghostbusting team, who really need some help with a familiar foe. Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore must find a way to bring Ray back home or risk losing Ray to the other world forever.
1. Prototype Gone Wrong

It was just an atypical day in the lives of the famous Ghostbusters. The city had been unusually quiet, which was a nice change of pace, and gave the resident scientists; Dr. Egon Spengler and Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz, the opportunity to continue their work on an extraordinarily delicate experiment in the basement of their old firehouse. With tools in hand and a large blueprint scrawled out across the work desk the duo finishing applying the final touches to their latest ghost capturing contraption.

"That should do it." Ray proudly declared as he shut the side panel on the now altered ion ghost trap, the screwdriver resting between his clenched teeth. "Ready for the test?"

"Yes." Egon confirmed as he double checked the equation for any potential errors. Rolling up the blueprint he set it aside and turned his attention to the trap resting on the desk beside Ray. "All of the calculations are accurate and the power levels are stable. It'd be best to perform a test now under controlled-"

The Klaxons in the garage sounded off as a call had been reported.

Ray pulled the screwdriver out of his mouth and dropped it on the desk. "Were you about to say 'controlled circumstances'?" He asked with a sly grin.

"I stand corrected." Egon admitted as he adjusted his glasses and slipped off his white lab coat, draping it over the desk in the process. "Shall we?"

As Egon ascended the stairs out of the basement to the first floor Ray took off his own lab coat, leaving it next to Egon's coat, and scooped up the modified trap before following after his colleague.

Winston Zeddemore had already switched into his jumpsuit and was standing beside the driver's side door of Ecto-1 with the written address in his hand. "Ready to suit up?"

Egon strolled through the garage at a quick pace and pulled open his locker to change into his own jumpsuit. "Any details on the call?"

"Yeah, from what the client told Janine it sounds like a Class-4 'Possessor' stirring up problems at the old art museum."

Dr. Peter Venkman hustled down the stairs from the second floor and joined Egon at the lockers. "Art museum? The same art museum that our 'buddy' Vigo tried to use Dana and Oscar as his vessels for a new era?"

"The same one." Winston confirmed with an awkward grimace.

"Damn. Thought he had that place cleaned out." Peter grumbled as he too changed into his jumpsuit.

Ray had made his way into the garage and stopped beside the desk of their fiery receptionist Janine Melnitz. "What's going on Janine?"

"Some curator at the art museum is freaking out over a ghost. It apparently took control over his assistant's body and she threw a cup of coffee at his head."

"Oh. Well, at least it's only one ghost." Ray tried to look at the situation in a more lighthearted manner.

"Uh-huh..." Peter wasn't in the mood for joking. He had an austere past with the museum after the confrontation with the spirit of Vigo the Carpathian nearly cost him the lives of Dana Barret, his love interest, and her young son Oscar. "Can we just get there and take care of things before we have to hi-jack another monument and deal with another team of fat lawyers?"

"Sorry Venkman." Ray felt a little guilty for not taking the situation seriously. Depositing the modified trap into the rear compartment of Ecto-1 Ray too rushed over to his locker and changed quickly into his jumpsuit. "Ready?"

"Ready." Egon confirmed as he slammed his locker door shut.

"Let's go." Peter hustled over to the iconic hearse and pulled open the front passenger side door and took his seat.

Ray and Egon sat in the rear of the hearse while Winston turned the key in the ignition and pulled Ecto-1 through the large garage doors and raced down the street to the museum several blocks away.

During the drive Winston decided to break the silence by asking Ray and Egon about their secretive project down in the basement. "What were you guys working on downstairs? You were working for almost three days straight!"

"Prototype for an alternate form of ghost containment." Ray piped up enthusiastically. "We haven't had the chance to test it out yet, but everything looks promising."

"New ghost containment?" Winston inquired curiously. "What for?"

Before either Ray or Egon had the chance to answer Ecto-1 came to a halt along the street outside the museum. There was a small gathering of frightened onlookers who had seen several associates and visitors storm outside of the museum in a near panic.

Peter opened his door and stood outside the hearse with eyes fixed upon the museum. "I hate this place."

Ray, Egon and Winston joined Peter outside of the hearse. The museum had played the role of the final battleground against Vigo and it nearly took the life of not only Oscar but also Ray who had been temporarily possessed by Vigo himself. It was a close call but in the end the Ghostbusters had managed to fend off Vigo and keep the spirit of the malevolent tyrant from being resurrected and prevented a reign of terror from taking over the world.

"Come on." Peter lead the way into the museum with a defensive posture evident in his stride. "I don't want to hang around here any longer than I need to."

Winston and Ray opened the rear compartment of the hearse to retrieve their invaluable equipment. While Ray helped Winston slide on his proton pack Egon took one pack for himself and a second for Peter. Ray turned and allowed Winston to help him slide on his own proton pack and discreetly took hold of the modified trap with the intent of testing in the field.

With a pat on Ray's shoulder Winston jogged up the concrete steps of the museum after Egon and Peter. "Meet you inside!"

Ray slung the prototype over one shoulder and a standard trap over the other. Locking up the hearse with a quick motion Ray raced up the steps after his colleagues, eager to check out the situation and possibly use the new trap.

Peter and Egon had followed a trail of carnage strewn about the lengthy corridors of the museum and discovered the possessed form of the curator's assistant floating just a few feet above the floor; her long blonde hair wisping wildly amongst psychokinetic static, her blues eyes glazed over by a white film, her pale skin a deathly shade of gray and her smile twisted upward into a seemingly impossibly large grin.

Bits of official documents, broken coffee mugs, pens and damaged paintings lined the floors and stained the walls as the possessed woman floated about the museum with a demented glee.

"So what do you think Spengz?" Peter asked as he powered up his thrower and switched the setting from protonic energy flow to that of the concentrated 'mood' slime. "Hose her?"

Egon nodded once as he too powered up his thrower to the same setting. "Hose her."

Winston joined his colleagues at the end of the corridor where they stood watching the possessed woman. "Is she the only victim?"

"It appears so." Egon confirmed as he looked at Winston and noticed he had arrived alone. "Where is Ray?"

"Right here!" Ray responded as he jogged up to his awaiting team mates. "Find her?"

Peter was tired of waiting and decided to open fire. As the stream of green and pink slime intermingled in the air and drenched the body of the possessed woman the possessor who had taken her body as its vessel let out a horrible shriek using the poor woman's voice.

"Got her!" Peter shouted as he stepped closer to her.

"Get the trap ready." Egon instructed as he too opened fire with the intent on snaring the possessor ghost under a second stream of slime as soon as it exited the woman's body. Standing on the opposite side of the woman across from Peter he positioned himself ready in the event of a chase if the possessor broke loose. "We can't let it go after any other innocent bystanders."

"Right!" Ray looked at the two traps over his shoulder and selected the prototype to use. It was only one ghost and therefore it was an ideal moment to use it in the field. If it failed the unaltered trap could be used as a back up. Ray placed the trap on the floor and slid it across the floor toward the woman as she continued to float in midair. "Trap out!"

Winston kept his thrower set to protonic energy in the event that the ghost attempted to flee the scene and elude the slime. Standing behind Ray Winston was keeping an eye on his team mates, watching their backs and ready to make a move.

With a final screech the possessor released its hold over the woman's body. As the woman fell to the ground Winston made a mad dash and managed to catch her in his arms before she hit the ground. "She's free!" He called out as he carried the slime drenched woman out of the line of fire.

"Trap open!" Ray yelled as he stomped on the trigger for the trap, only to have the doors of the trap jam; unable to fully open. "Uh-oh, problem!"

"Ray?" Peter sounded very irritated but didn't turn away from the possessor stunned by the slime stream. "What. Problem?"

"Trap is jammed!" Ray explained quickly as he tried again and again to press down on the trigger and open the trap. "Hold on! I got this!"

Egon glanced down at the trap and his eyes widened. "Ray!"

"I got this!" Ray repeated as he knelt down beside the trap just under the possessor. Grabbing onto the partially opened doors with his hands Ray began prying the metal hatches open with his fingers. Slime rained down onto his head, neck and shoulders soaking through his jumpsuit and giving him a slight chill as he worked. "It's opening!"

"Ray! Get back!" Egon cautioned wisely. "You don't know-"

The traps burst open with a powerful beam of bright ionized light. Ray was stunned by the intense light and covered his eyes to shield his already pained vision from the light. "Gah!"

"Ray!" Peter and Egon called out in chorus.

The possessor was quickly pulled downward to the trap, the high degree of power from the trap easily enveloping the spectral being and drawing it and the surrounding slime into the trap.

An unexpected pulse of energy erupted from the trap and illuminated the room with a potent light that caused everyone to turn away from the incredible light.

"RAY!" The trio of Ghostbusters shouted as the pulse swept through the museum.

As quickly as the pulse swept through the room it dissipated and the trap doors slammed shut with a loud metal 'clang'.

Egon was the first to open his eyes and look down at the smoldering trap. The light was blinking which indicated that it had successfully identified a ghost and smoke was wisping out of the rectangular device as it sat on the floor in a thin, partially absorbed puddle of slime.

Peter looked over next and saw that the trap was blinking. "We got it? Right?"

"Not exactly." Egon sheathed his thrower and knelt beside the trap. Unclipping the PKE meter from his belt Egon ran a scan over the device, the meter reacting loudly to the lingering energy in the area.

Winston was still protectively holding the woman, who was unconscious and shivering, in his arms. "What happened? Where's Ray?"

Egon's face paled as he turned off the meter and swallowed nervously before reluctantly replying. "Unknown."

 _ **...to be continued...  
**_


	2. Cold and Isolation

Egon, Peter and Winston gathered around the trap with absolute confusion plastered on their faces. There was no sign of distress, no sign of destruction and more importantly no sign of Ray. It was quiet and the air was still in the aftermath of the call. The woman Winston had saved was unconscious but seemed to be unharmed by the altercation.

Peter took a knee beside the trap next to Egon and gave it look over, his inquisitive eyes narrowing with anger. "Egon, this isn't one of our normal traps."

"No. This is the prototype Ray and I had been working on."

The curator of the museum came rushing down the corridor and toward the Ghostbusters. Upon seeing his assistant in Winston's arms he let of a deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Winston answered softly as he tightened his grip on her limp body. "But you may want to call an ambulance and get her to a hospital."

"Right away! Thank you so much!"

While the curator raced off to the nearest phone to call for help the three Ghostbusters slowly followed behind. Egon picked up the prototype and held it at arms length as he mentally pondered the entire situation that had just unfolded unexpectedly before his eyes.

"Egon, what's going on? What the hell kind of trap is that?!" Peter demanded in a foul tone of voice. "Where is Ray?"

"Unknown." Egon replied with a whisper. "This trap isn't a traditional trap."

"Then what KIND of trap is it?" Peter pressed with an increasingly bitter aggression.

"It was meant to act as a doorway. One that would transport the ghosts from the plane of the living over to the plane of the dead."

"It's a... transporter?" Peter sounded as skeptical as he was angry. "Why in the hell would you test that thing out in the field? What's the matter with you?"

"I hadn't planned on field testing it, Venkman." Egon's voice increased in volume and practically mirrored Peter's own aggression. "Ray had made the decision on his own, I was unaware of his intentions until it was too late."

"Stop!" Winston demanded firmly. "Yelling at each other isn't going to solve anything. Let's get back to the firehouse and figure this out. Together."

* * *

A cold floor and an even colder sensation of slime was all that Ray could feel as he laid weakly alone on the ground of an unknown location. Laying partially on his left side and stomach he was left prone and defenseless in the unknown room. While fully conscious and aware of the waking world his entire body was exhausted by the draining effects of the ionized energy that had transported him from his universe and into the next. Helpless and without his colleagues to watch his back Ray could only lay vulnerable and frightened until he found the strength to move.

' _Guys_?' Ray thought to himself, hoping that maybe on some level his friends could hear his voice. ' _Where are you_? _Where am I_? _Is this_... _Is this what death is like_?'

In the distance the sound of two muffled voices approaching his location sent a shiver of dread up his already icy spine.

' _Who's that_?' Ray asked himself in a frightened panic. Despite the distance one of the voices somehow sounded familiar to him. ' _Is he a friend or foe_?'

Closer and closer the voices grew louder and their footsteps heavier. A large door creaked open and two figures walked into the room where Ray was laying all alone.

"Hey! What's that?" A male voice with a slight Midwestern accent asked as he and his partner approached Ray's body laying on the floor. "It's a person! Where'd this guy come from?"

Ray wanted desperately to speak, relieved to hear the voices were speaking a language he understood and were most likely human, but his voice was gone thanks to the complete weakness that had overwhelmed him psychically. ' _My name is Dr. Ray Stantz, can you help me_?' His unspoken plea of course went unanswered by the two men. ' _Why do I know your voice_?'

Two warm fingers pressed against Ray's neck to check for a pulse. "He's alive." The familiar voice confirmed as he ran his hand down the back of Ray's head, neck and spine to check for any sign of injury. "But he's covered in slime. Looks like the same stuff that we found flowing under the streets last fall."

"We should find a way to keep him warm." The second male voice, one with a slight New Yorker accent, decided as he took a small meter from his belt and scanned Ray's body. "His vitals are weak but stable. Hm, his core temperature is lower than normal. Must be from the slime."

' _Are you using a scanner_? _Is it a PKE meter_? _I have one, too_!' Ray wanted to desperately to communicate with his potential saviors but his voice wouldn't respond. ' _What's going on_?'

"Hey, check it out!" The second voice began wiping slime from Ray's upper arm sleeve revealing the iconic 'no ghost' patch sewn onto the sleeve. "Man, he's one of us!"

' _One of_... _you_?' Ray wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. ' _A Ghostbuster_?'

"I don't know him." The first voice confirmed as he carefully unclipped the proton pack from Ray's back and slipped the straps free from his shoulders. "But his look and his equipment is pretty close to ours."

"Copy cat?" The second voice asked as he handed the meter to his partner so he could check Ray's arms and legs for injury himself.

' _Hey_!' Ray was a little offended by the accusation. ' _I'm not a copy cat, I'm the real deal_!'

"No, I don't think so." The first voice concluded as he finished scanning Ray's pack carefully put his hands under Ray's chest and turned him over from his stomach so he could lay on his back. "If he was a copy cat then his equipment would look EXACTLY like our own. This looks like a completely different model, yet it has the same frequency as our own packs."

"Where did he come from then?" The second voice asked as he placed his warm hand down gently but firmly in the center of Ray's chest, wiping the slime from his name badge. "Stantz." The sensation of warmth was very welcomed by the freezing engineer. "He isn't having any difficulty breathing, I'm going to check his pupils."

' _Yes, I'm Stantz_! _From New York_!' Ray mentally screamed to the men who had found him. ' _New York_! _New York_! _Dr. Stantz_!'

Gently the second voice lifted Ray's eyelids one at a time and shined the light from his small penlight into his eyes. "Normal pupils."

' _Ouch_.' Ray hated the painfully bright light that had just flashed into his eyes. It was bright enough to prevent him from seeing the faces of the men who had found him. ' _I'm so sick of bright lights_...'

The first voice sat in silence for a moment before responding to the all important question his partner just asked. "Based on the level of the residual PKE lingering on him, I'd say it's entirely possible he came from an alternate plane."

' _Alternate plane_?' Ray pondered enthusiastically. ' _The prototype_! _It worked_! _It sent the ghost AND me to another plane_! _But_... _This isn't the plane of the dead_... _is it_?'

"Should we call an ambulance?" The second voice asked as he took his hand from Ray's chest. "Aside from a little hypothermia he doesn't seem to be injured. We could take him back to headquarters and take care of him ourselves."

"Yeah, we'll take him with us." The first voice decided. "If we took him to the hospital that might cause more problems and raise more questions. Besides, he seems to be the source of the reading we picked up on. Easiest bust on record."

' _Never been busted before_.' Ray quipped to himself. ' _Better hope Peter never_ \- _Oh man, I hope the guys are okay_!'

"Come on." The first voice slipped Ray's pack up onto his shoulder before putting his hands firmly under Ray's arms and sat him in an upright position. "Let's get him out of here."

"No problem." The second voice took Ray's arm and hefted the unconscious man up and over his shoulders to carry him 'fireman style'. "There should be a blanket in the back of the car."

"Sometimes it really pays off to keep that old ambulance up and running." The first voice joked. "Too bad we're running out of parts."

"And funds."

* * *

Back at the firehouse the three returning Ghostbusters exited Ecto-1 in uncomfortable silence. Egon took the prototype trap and locked himself away in his private lab to run an analysis on the device, while Peter chose to isolate himself up in the bunk room until he cooled off. Winston had the misfortune of telling Janine about what had happened during the call, which of course caused the loyal receptionist to put in for some overtime so she could stay at the firehouse and help the guys in anyway she could.

After an hour or so Winston knocked on the lab door and requested to enter. "Egon, need some help in there?"

There was a brief pause of silence before Winston heard the lock click and the door open. "I'm alright."

"Did you find anything out?" Winston was dying to know what happened to Ray but didn't want to ask any uncomfortable questions. "Like what the pulse was that came from the trap?"

"I have been attempting to identify the exact energy signature that had been emitted but I've been able to find anything conclusive."

"And Ray?"

"I'm quite certain that Ray is still alive."

"But... where?"

Egon didn't offer any suggestions, he kept quiet as he returned his attention to the trap on the table.

"Right. I'll let you alone to work, but if you need me just call."

"Thank you Winston." Egon was truly appreciative of the offer, but his mind was too preoccupied to full convey his feelings.

"Need some coffee?"

"No. I'm fine."

Winston knew that Egon was just as shaken by the ordeal as the rest of them. Egon had always been a master of keeping his emotions in check, never letting fear or doubt affect his judgement; but even he had his limits. Despite all the jokes that Peter cracked about Egon's personality the physicist was just as human as the rest of them.

"Okay, yeah." Winston pulled the door shut behind him as he left, grateful that he didn't hear the lock click as he walked away.

Janine was sitting at her desk unsure of what she should be doing at the moment. As soon as Winston approached she engaged him in conversation, desperately needing to feel useful. "How is he?"

"He's blaming himself." Winston whispered discreetly. "But he didn't do anything wrong. Ray decided to test the trap without telling anyone. It was all an accident."

"I know that." Janine had worked with the guys long enough to know that they were never careless with their equipment or tests. "I just wish Egon would stop trying to bear the entire weight of the world on his shoulders whenever something like that happens."

"It'd help if Peter came down and worked with him, but he's still hot. As soon as he cools off I'm going to talk to him."

"Good. Dr. V won't listen to me, let alone listen to reason." She put her hand on Winston's arm. "Hopefully he'll listen to you!"

 _ **...to be continued...  
**_


	3. Trying to Connect

Ray felt himself being gently lowered down from his rescuer's shoulders and laid down on long soft cushion in the backseat of a modified ambulance. It was a long bench like seat with vinyl covering. The lingering smell of cleaning chemicals and various fuels excited his mind as it reminded him of Ecto-1 and of the garage back at the firehouse. As he laid on his back he felt a hand gently wipe the residual slime from his face and a warm, light blanket being draped over his body. With a hearty 'thud' of the door being shut Ray knew his two rescuers were climbing into the front of their vehicle.

The first voice sounded off from the driver's side of the vehicle. "Any calls while we were inside?"

The second voice replied from the front passenger's seat. "Nope. Nothing on the radio."

"Good." The key in the ignition turned over roaring the engine to life. "We need to take care of him before we do anything else."

"Think he knows what's going on?"

"Not sure, but right now he's our best bet."

' _What's happening with you_?' Ray wondered to himself as he felt the ambulance pull forward from its parked position. ' _Are you ind danger_? _Or... did I do something_? _Oh no, what if I'm responsible_?'

* * *

Egon stared with a blankness in his dark eyes as he meticulously studied the prototype's equation on the large whiteboard that took up the entirety of the far wall of his lab. The numbers and letters all lined up as they should, giving Egon a clear understanding of what should have been and what should be with the proper functioning of said prototype, and yet, it didn't make any sense.

"What am I missing?" Egon ask himself as he capped the black dry erase marker in his hands. "There is no flaw. There is no miscalculation. Nothing should have gone wrong..." His eyes narrowed as frustration began to overwhelm his otherwise emotionally resolved mind. "So why did Ray vanish? What am I missing?!"

Turning around on his heels Egon bowed his hand and slammed his hands down angrily on the surface of his desk. The sound of bone colliding with the wooden surface echoed loudly through the first floor of the firehouse and made the other occupants jump in surprise.

It wasn't long before the door to the lab was pushed open slowly by Winston. "Egon, what's going on?"

Rather than answer his friend Egon only let out an irritated sigh.

"Egon," Winston stayed at the door frame as he studied his friend's body language and gave the whiteboard a quick glance. "I'm not a scientist but I am your friend. Just tell me what you need and I'll help you. We all will."

"I don't know what I need." Egon admitted feeling defeated, if not completely helpless by the situation. "I can't see any error. I can't see any flaw with the device. By all accounts the prototype should have function properly and Ray should..."

"Ray should be here." Winston easily tracked Egon's train of thought. It was a gift of his to understand human nature and to empathize with his friends, his colleagues and even the clients who sought the help of the Ghostbusters. Ray was the heart, Egon was the brain, Peter was the spine and Winston him was the emotional harmony that balanced out the team. "Egon, we'll find a way to bring him back. You can't carry the burden alone."

"I built the device. I'm responsible for-"

"No, both you AND Ray built the device." Winston reminded him a firm but complaisant tone. "You didn't build it alone and you can't re-examine your work alone. You need Ray, we all do, but since he's not here let me help you."

Egon's shoulders relaxed as he finally accepted the fact that he alone couldn't solve the mystery behind the prototype's malfunction. "You're right." He turned his gaze slightly to look at Winston over his shoulder. "The blueprints are in the basement. Can you please bring them to me?"

"Yeah, no problem." Winston shouted through the door as he crossed through the garage toward the basement. "And you need to take a break! Don't push yourself too hard. You'll make yourself sick with worry or burn out."

"Burn out." Egon repeated as he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest as he fixed his eyes on the equation once more. "I wish I knew if Ray was alright." Egon still felt a sting of guilt despite Winston's reassurance. "It was his design, he could locate any minuscule abnormality within seconds."

"But he's not here." Janine spoke up from the opened door. She had a steaming mug of tea in her hands as she stepped inside the lab. "You are."

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know you're well on your way to punishing yourself for a crime you didn't commit." She offered the tea to Egon. "Drink this, it'll help you relax."

Tentatively Egon accepted the tea. "Thanks." Looking down at the tea he stared at the bottom of the white mug stained a light brown from the flowing tea inside. "Where's Venkman?"

"Upstairs." Janine adjusted her glasses awkwardly. "I think he's sleeping."

"Good. He's already angry, the last thing we need is for him to be cranky as well."

"Cranky is Dr. V's default setting, remember?" Janine tried to joke and lighten the mood, but it wasn't enough. "Maybe you should go and take a shower. It'll make you feel better."

Nodding in agreement Egon set the mug of tea down on the desk. "You may be right. Tell Winston to begin work without me, I'll be down shortly."

* * *

The traffic was unusually quiet as the ambulance drove down the dark streets. Ray was unaccustomed to light commotion on the streets which made him feel even further from home. Still to weak to speak or even open his eyes he just laid on the backseat on the ambulance with the utmost gratitude toward his rescuers bubbling over in his heart.

The ambulance slowed and stopped in the street before carefully backing up and into a large cold garage of a massive building.

"Home sweet home." The first voice quipped as he turned off the engine. "Let's get him upstairs, we can run a few tests on him to make sure he's really okay."

"Yeah," the second voice agreed. "if not we can make a house call."

The front doors of the ambulance opened and slammed shut again as the front occupants exited the vehicle. The rear door opened and Ray felt the blanket being pulled off of his body. The same strong shoulders that had carried him to the ambulance picked him up once more and carried him out of the ambulance and up a long staircase through a chilly, quiet building.

"Any word from our contacts in Chicago?" The second voice asked as he followed his partner up the stairs.

' _Chicago_?' Ray thought to himself. ' _That's a good sign. I know Chicago, the Rookie may have managed to form a larger team_! _Maybe I just ended up in a different city_.'

"Nothing." The first voice sounded despondent as he stepped away from the answering machine. "Not even a damn telemarketer."

"Never thought I'd miss the sound of a ringing phone." The second voice lamented as he carried Ray through the room and came to a stop. "I even miss the sound of midday traffic."

"Careful pal," the first voice cautioned as he cleared off a table and motioned for him to step forward. "you never know when Karro Zans has one of weird little imps listening in on us. He might try to use those little quirks against us."

"Let's ask for some pizza and beer." The second voice joked as he carried Ray over to the table and carefully began lowering him down from his shoulder.

"With our luck," the first voice helped guide Ray down to the table by supporting his head and neck. "he'd send us moldy pizza and skunky beer."

"Or some cheap store brand frozen pizza." The second voice tagged on as he put his hand down on Ray's chest. Moving to the zipper on Ray's jumpsuit he unzipped the garment down from his chest to his waist. "He feels warmer and he's still breathing okay." Ray felt his arm being picked up and radial pulse being measured by two fingers. "Heart rate is good, too. I don't see a head injury or any sign of illness. I wonder why he's still out?"

The first voice snapped his fingers in a 'eureka' type of moment. "Get the analyzer. We'll check his brainwaves and see if there's a short in the circuits."

' _I hope not_!' Ray shouted in reaction to the metaphor. ' _I don't want to spend the rest of my life locked inside my own mind_.'

"Monitor is on." The second voice confirmed as he slipped an eerily familiar colander device over Ray's head. After securing the support strap under Ray's chin he held Ray's head and neck slightly upward to keep the colander from bending his neck into a painful angle. "What're you getting for a reading? Anything odd?"

"Looks normal." The first voice confirmed with a curious tone. "Except..."

"Except what?" His partner inquired with calm tone.

' _Yeah_!' Ray agreed. ' _Except what_?! _What's wrong_?!'

"The readings are normal and stable, but there's a strange dampening effect going on thanks to the residual slime all over his body." The first voice turned off the monitor and motioned for his partner to remove the analyzer. "We get the slime off of him and he'll wake up."

"Sounds easy enough." The second voice confirmed as he set aside the analyzer. "There should be some clean towels in the washroom. I'll grab a couple."

' _Good_! _Easy fix_.' Ray was immediately relieved. He attempted to move his fingers and open his eyes in an attempt to respond and let his rescuers know he was well aware of everything that was happening, but he couldn't move a muscle. ' _Wonder if there will be enough left for a sample test_?'

While the second voice left the room the first voice hovered beside Ray. "You know pal, you look a little familiar to me. Wonder if we went to school together or something." Smoothing out the fabric of Ray's jumpsuit he read the name tag thoughtfully. "Stantz. It's not ringin' any bells, but there's just something about you."

' _The feeling is mutual_.' Ray mentally confirmed. ' _Wish I could see your face, that might answer a question or two_.'

"Got the towels." The second voice returned to the room. "You take care of him and I'll go check the computers. I have a feeling that we're about to get really busy."

"And you're usually right." The first voice playfully leaned over and gave his partner a kiss on the cheek. "That's why I love ya'!"

"Knock it off man!" The second voice laughed while sounding a little annoyed. "As soon as I find my wife I'm outta' here! For good!"

"Where you going to go?"

"Not sure." He paused midstride before answering. "Maybe we'll head West, find others and rebuild from there." He continued walking and made his way to a small staircase that lead to the roof of the building. "You should go with us, there's nothing left for you here."

' _Others_? _Rebuild_?' Ray wondered deeply. ' _Just what the hell is going on here_?'

 _ **...to be continued...  
**_


	4. Communication and Understanding

Winston studied the blueprints for the prototype with a keen eye and patient attitude while Egon began working multiple equations that tied in with various potential frequency and energy levels that could theoretically being emitted by the prototype itself. The small work lab was covered in blue prints, photographs, discarded sheets of paper with dismissed equations and empty coffee mugs.

From the opened doorway Janine watched with fascination as the two men worked meticulously without uttering a single word to each other.

Peter walked slowly down the stairs and stopped midway. He stared at Janine and watched her body language to gauge the mood of the room. Judging from her tense shoulders, crossed arms, fixed stare and blank face he knew that whatever was happening inside the lab was uncommonly intense.

Clearing his throat in a not-so-subtle attempt to catch Janine's ear Peter leaned casually over the banister of the staircase, his hands loosely clasped together. "How's it going down there?"

Janine looked up at Peter, back into the lab and then finally back at Peter before crossing the room to look up at him from the bottom of the staircase. "Not good."

"Do we even know what happened to Ray?"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

"Damn it."

"They could always use additional help, you know."

"I'm not a physicist, engineer of even engineer in training."

"But you are a psychologist. You can help them mentally while they work on the prototype."

"Yeah... Pass!" Peter's stubbornness was almost legendary at this point. "They can't afford me."

"Gee Dr. V, you're such a humanitarian." Her sarcasm was as biting as it was appropriate.

"No freebies." Peter firmly stated. "Let me know if we get a call, I'll be upstairs."

Janine watched disapprovingly as Peter returned to his self imposed isolation in the bunk room. "Typical."

* * *

Ray could feel strength returning to body as the slime was wiped away with the thick towels. As he grew stronger Ray could feel his hands beginning to twitch and he was able to slowly open his eyes. Looking down at the man, who had just wiped the slime from Ray's chest and abdomen, Ray was a little startled by what he saw. The man was tall and heavy set. He had dark short brown hair with a few waves through it and dark brown eyes that were as kind as they were intense. Bearing a striking resemblance to the spirit guide who often visited him in his dreams Ray was relieved to see a familiar, kind presence watching over him.

On the man's right sleeve Ray could see the 'no ghost' logo had that become famous through New York and eventually throughout the country, maybe even the world. His jumpsuit bore a striking resemblance to the jumpsuits that Ray and his team wore; however the man's jumpsuit was a very dark shade of gray and had red stripes along the biceps.

The building however was less familiar. By the smell of the building Ray knew that he was in fact inside the firehouse, except it wasn't HIS firehouse. It was more rundown and there was more elaborate, bulkier pieces of equipment in the 'rec room' and all through the small kitchenette. The bunk room was in the same place but seemed somehow empty and lonely.

Swallowing once Ray tried to speak. "H-hello." After stammering quietly Ray tried again. "Hi."

The man stopped wiping away the slime from Ray's legs and looked at his face. "Hello yourself. 'Bout time you woke up."

"Where am I?" Ray asked as his voice cleared.

"Safe." Was the curt and reassuring reply. "Got a name, pal? You, know other than ' Stantz'."

"I'm Dr. Raymond Stantz, but everyone calls me Ray." He extended his hand weakly to properly greet his rescuer.

"Doctor, huh? Small world." He took Ray's hand shook firmly. "I'm Dr. Johnathan Venkman. Call me John."

"Venkman?" Ray repeated as his hand went limp.

"John." John corrected playfully. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Ray tried to sit upright but was still too weak to move on his own. John supported his shoulder and helped him into a sitting position. "It's just I know a Dr. Venkman, we work together."

"Huh, this small world just got a little smaller." John draped the slime covered towel over his own shoulder casually. "Anyone I know?"

"Peter. Peter Venkman."

"Uh..." John got a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. "I had an older brother named Peter, but he died when he was seven. Car accident."

"Oh. Sorry." Ray felt guilty for unintentionally bringing up a painful memory.

"It's alright." John brushed it off dismissively. "You didn't know. Besides, I never knew him. I wasn't even born when he died. So," John wisely decided to change the subject of discussion. "Dr. Stantz, what are you a doctor of exactly?"

"Engineering." Ray replied with a grateful tone in the his voice for the change. "I'm also well versed in mythology and occult literature. How about you?"

"I'm a psychologist with a minor in medicine."

"Hm." Ray smiled but kept his thoughts to himself. ' _He has to be related to Peter in some way_.' "So where'd your partner go?"

"You know I have a partner?"

"Yeah, I could hear you guys talking but I couldn't say anything."

"Really?" John was intrigued by the revelation and took a small penlight from the front pocket on his jumpsuit. "How long have you been conscious?"

"Uh, I can't say for sure." Ray looked straight ahead as John checked his pupils. "But I came to maybe a minute before you guys found me."

John pocketed the penlight and stood up straight. "What were you doing at the abandoned museum anyway?"

Ray's brow arched in confusion. "What abandoned museum?"

"The old art museum. It's been boarded up ever since a deranged curator tried to resurrect the spirit of a Moldavian tyrant from a massive painting."

"Vigo the Carpathian?"

This time it was John who arched a brow. "You're familiar with that dude?"

"Yeah. My team stopped him though..." Ray trailed off as he struggled to piece together the events. "Wait, wait... The city we're in, it IS New York, right?"

"Yeah, the one and only." John was studying Ray with the same keen interest as Peter. "Where else would you be?"

"It's... It's a little complicated. Maybe we should start from the beginning."

Returning from the roof Ray's second rescuer seemed a little shocked to see Ray fully conscious, sitting up and talking. "Hey, nice to see you're still with us."

Ray eyed the second man and offered his hand to shake. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem." He accepted Ray's hand. "I'm Dr. Henry Foley. Call me Hank."

Jack was about the same age as John, late twenties-early thirties. African American, tall, lean, dark hair and bright brown eyes. He had a slight mustache over his lip and was in the process of growing a goatee. Or perhaps he simply hadn't had the chance to shave which resulted in his rugged look.

John put his hand on Hank's shoulder. "He's our bio-engineer."

"Yeah, well, I still consider myself a cop first; bio-engineer second."

Ray tried to stand up from the table but his legs weren't ready to support his weight just yet. As stumbled forward both John and Hank caught him by the arms and hefted him back onto the table.

"Wait a few minutes." John urged as he made sure Ray wasn't about the pass out. "The slime had essentially blocked your brain from sending signals to the rest of your body. It's going to take a while for all those signals to get back through and respond normally."

"Yeah, you're right." Ray agreed as he wearily sat on the table.

"Now," John gave his partner a stern glance. "you said we should start from the beginning. Well, we're all ears pal."

* * *

Winston had fallen asleep in the lab just before two in the morning, while Egon continued to work on through the night. Janine decided to stay in the firehouse, using couch in the small office space that Peter used to conduct business as a guest room. Peter himself had stayed up in the bunk room all through the evening without saying a word to either Egon or Winston.

Watching from afar, keeping his presence secretive, Peter watched Egon's shadow moving about in the lab from the top of the stairs.

Peter was angry. Angry at Egon for not stopping Ray from using the prototype. Angry at Ray for disappearing. Angry at Winston for not showing any bitterness or resentment toward either Egon or Ray. Angry at Janine for being so supportive rather than judgmental. But most importantly he was angry with himself for being unable to let his petty grievance go and help his friends, knowing that it was a time when they needed him the most.

"Damn experiments." He grumbled like a temperamental child. "Why can't we just what we have? 'If it ain't broke, then don't fix it', that's what they always say, but no... Egon and Ray have to keep pushing the limits until they snap. It's a wonder we haven't been consumed by some giant portal into Hell by now..."

Unable to sleep and unable to assist Peter decided to take his leave of the firehouse and go for a late night walk.

"I need to cool off again." Peter decided as he discreetly hustled down the stairs and through the front door of the firehouse.

From inside the lab Egon faintly heard the front door open and close. The tension in the firehouse also seemed to lessen which was always indicative of Peter's absence during stressful times.

"I'm sorry Venkman." Egon whispered under his breath. "I can't change the past. What's done is done."

* * *

Ray had explained everything in length and detail as far as the current events were concerned to John and Hank, who hung onto every word he said with an intense curiosity that was usually reserved only for confrontations with demigods or demons. As Ray spoke the two men seemed to understand the series of events that had taken place and even seemed to understand exactly what it was Ray was going through.

The prototype and its working components were all material and designs that both John and Hank were accustomed to using themselves.

"So by all accounts", Hank followed Ray's logic brilliantly. "this is NOT the New York City you know, but a New York City on a parallel plane. You came here from your own plane by accident."

Ray nodded to acknowledge Hank's words even though a part of him still couldn't believe what had happened. "It's the only thing that makes sense. When the prototype malfunctioned my team and I were busting a possessor at the art museum, which is a thriving place of business in my world by the way; and suddenly I'm laying unconscious on the floor of the museum which had been abandoned in your world."

"Definitely explains the high readings high readings of psychokinetic energy that our computers detected." Hank confirmed as he looked over to John. "And why we didn't find any other anomaly during our search. Ray here came through a temporary portal that connected our two planes together long enough to cross over."

"But the question still remains," Ray sounded despondent and wary as he even dared to ask. "how do I get back to my world?"

John put his hand on Ray's shoulder sympathetically. "I hate to say it, but by all accounts you're stuck here."

 _ **...to be continued...  
**_


	5. Revisiting the Past

Peter walked the dark streets alone as he struggled with his own thoughts and emotions. A cold breeze kicked up which sent a shiver down his spine as continued his trek, too stubborn to return to the firehouse. Wandering aimlessly Peter found himself strolling through a familiar neighborhood. Looking up Peter took in the sight of the old apartment complex where the final confrontation with Gozer had taken place.

Enough had passed that the roof and exterior of the building had been repaired, the 'artistically' placed shrine and temple meant to honor Gozer had been completely torn down and replaced with a rooftop garden. Without the shrine the building seemed shorter and with less character.

"See you on the other side..." Peter sighed as he remembered that fateful night. "There was no guarantee we'd walk away from the fight alive, and yet... We went all in."

Shrugging his shoulders Peter continued his walk without any end in sight as he desperately tried to clear his head and cool his temper.

It was a long night.

* * *

Ray felt eerily at home at the parallel firehouse. Both John and Hank had taken an immediate liking to the wayward engineer and took him into their home like he was a long lost friend. Showering off the residual slime from his skin Ray couldn't help but find himself comparing the aesthetic between the two firehouses and the unique 'vibe' that New York City normally emitted.

There was something off about this parallel New York. Never before had Ray heard the city so quiet or felt the city so empty. It was also darker than normal, as if no one bothered to turn on the lights in their homes or apartments.

"Wonder what happened here?" Ray stated out loud as he turned off the shower and stepped out onto the white linoleum floor. "John said they encountered Vigo, how was their encounter different from our own?"

Toweling off his skin Ray changed into the fresh clothes provided to him by Hank; fortunately the two men had a similar enough build that the clothes weren't too tight on Ray, and joined his new companions who were sitting in the rec room analyzing the data readings taken from Ray himself. A long strip of paper displaying Ray's PKE readings, brainwaves and vital signs was stretched out between John's hands; pooling over the edges of the round table and onto the floor.

"Thanks for the shower." Ray sat down at the table next to Hank. "And for the clothes."

"No problem. You can do the laundry!" Hank joked as he did his best to ease Ray's mind.

"Gee, thanks." He gave Hank and appreciative grin before looking over at John. "Find anything new?"

"Nope." John carefully folded up the long strip of paper into a neat bundle. "You're completely healthy and your PKE readings aren't dangerous." John sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "So, your prototype malfunctioned and sent you to a parallel plane, when it was supposed to send a capture ghost to the plane of the dead, right?"

"Right." Ray confirmed.

"Now, if you could build a second prototype do you think you could recreate the incident, and if so, would the results be the same?"

"I... I don't know." Ray admitted feeling a little silly. "I don't even know what went wrong, so it's not like I can duplicate the chain of events."

"True," Hank interjected as an interesting thought popped into his head. "but if you could built a second device you could potentially find the flaw and correct it. Maybe even use the second device to return to your own plane."

"Maybe." Ray's doubt was heavy in his voice. Bowing his head he folded his hands together over the top of the table. "Problem is I didn't build the trap by myself. I had help from a colleague."

"We'll help!" Hank volunteered with hesitation. "I mean, we're all on the same team, right? And it'd be a nice change of pace to help the living instead of constantly dealing with the dead."

"Speaking of the living..." Ray raised a hand and pointed toward the large window into the darkness of the city of outside. "why does the city look and sound deserted? Where is everyone?"

John and Hank visibly stiffened at the question and sat back in their chairs uncomfortably. Rubbing at his stubble laden chin Hank turned to look at John and read his partner's somber expression before answering. "I guess you could say your confrontation with Vigo was a little different than ours."

* * *

A low rumble of thunder escaped from the thick dark clouds that hung over the city. Cold wings wisped down the streets and through the alleys as small drops of icy rain began falling from the sky, soaking into Peter's thin clothing as he walked alone. Goosebumps began to rise on his chilled skin as his dampened clothing clung uncomfortably to his body.

As Peter walked the streets the rain became increasingly colder and fell with larger, heavier drops. Folding his arms over his chest he tried to keep himself warm but the relentless weather was too taxing for his body to endure alone.

"I hate the cold." Peter grumbled bitterly as he crossed the street, stepping down into a deep puddle that splashed muddy, slushy water up his pant leg. "Gah! I REALLY hate the cold!"

Hastening his pace he stormed across the street and occasionally shook his soaked leg as if he could somehow force the collected icy water to drip away from his clothes.

Stumbling awkwardly over the vacated sidewalk Peter caught himself with one hand and braced his upper body against the side of a building as he balanced on one leg to try and wring out the excess water from the cuff of his pant leg.

"I wonder if all night laundry mats still exist." Putting his leg back down Peter stood up straight and looked at the front of the building he had been leaning against. It was a place he knew rather well. Ray's Occult Book Store.

The store front was dark indicating that it had been closed for the night. Kylie, who was Ray's assistant and protege in the art of spirituality and eventually Ghostbusting, had inherited a majority of the overall responsibility in the running the store; and she did great work.

Despite knowing that the door would be locked Peter put his hand on the old brass handle and tried to open the door. It didn't budge.

"Can't believe Ray still runs this place." He took a step back and stared at the name of the business sprawled in bright letters over the door. "Figured this was just his fallback if we went out of business again. Had no idea he enjoyed it so much."

Thunder rumbled once again as the impending storm grew more intense.

Peter began to shiver as the impending ice storm approached the city at a frightening speed.

Looking down at his watch, the face slightly fogged over from the cold, he noted the late time and decided to head back to the firehouse. "It's getting late. But I bet Spengz will still be awake."

* * *

Ray sat in stunned silence as Hank finished explaining the details surrounding his and John's encounter with Vigo the Carpathian. The outcome of that confrontation had played out much differently for this team of Ghostbusters than it had for Ray and his team.

"Vigo was successfully reborn into this world by using the museum curator's body as his new vessel. In my world Vigo wanted to use an innocent child as his vessel, guess he wasn't too picky in this world."

"Guess not." John let out a tired sigh. "Vigo was reborn on the stroke midnight of the New Year, effectively ending the 80s AND the world as we once knew it."

"And everyone wised up and left the city via mass exodus after two days of non-stop ghost attacks and demon sightings." Hank lamented. "My wife went with them."

Ray's eyes widened. "Are you two the only ones left in the whole city?"

"No, no." Hank cleared his throat. "There's probably a hundred people left, total. Everyone's just scattered about and holed up in fear. John and myself are the only two Ghostbusters in the city while our sister franchises took charge and created safe havens free of Vigo's influence and followers in Chicago. A barrier was set up at every exit of New York to keep Vigo's full power from flowing over the country, if not the entire world."

A flash of despondence flashed over John's face. "I'm going to start a pot of coffee. You guys want some?"

"Sure." Hank accepted the offer.

"I'll have some." Ray joined in. "Thanks."

As John left the rec room on the second floor and headed down to the first floor Ray lowered his voice. "What's with him? I mean, I get that the end of life and society isn't exactly the highlight of your day, but it seems like something else is bothering him."

Hank leaned forward a little bit in his seat and practically whispered in response. "John and I haven't always been a team of two."

Ray's shoulders sagged with empathetic disdain. "You lost people?"

"Yeah." Hank took a breath and cleared his throat of welling up emotion. "We used to be a team of five. John was the founder along with his best friend from college, Joel Kingston. Joel was chemist and brilliant inventor. After their success John recruited me for the team."

"How'd you meet?" Ray inquired with a keen curiosity.

"I used to attend the same college and most of the same classes as John. We were going to room together off campus back I was in school to become a neurosurgeon. But after my old man got sick I had to drop out and take care of my mom. I was guaranteed a spot at my dad's old precinct as soon as I finished the academy and guaranteed employment isn't something you turn your nose up at. I didn't want to be a cop but I figured as long as I was helping people it'd be an acceptable substitute until I could go back to school."

"Tell me about it." Ray had known the dangers of financial woe all too well.

"About two months after I was brought on board and trained as a Ghostbuster Joel brought his girlfriend onto the team, Rachel Robinson. She was a skilled mechanic and had a knack for keeping every piece of equipment she touched in perfect working order."

"That's four." Ray had been keeping count. "You was your final addition?"

"That honor was given to Mason Quill. Mason was a former paramedic and had gotten to know John pretty well after he interned at the hospital for a couple years."

"What happened to them?" Ray dared himself to ask as he watched Hank reluctantly answered the painful questions. "I mean... If it's okay for me to ask about it."

"It's okay, it's best to talk about it than to keep it all bottled up inside." Hank craned his neck and tried to peer down the stairs to see if John was returning just yet. John was nowhere to be seen. "About a week before Vigo returned we had gotten many calls regarding ghostly activity throughout the neighborhood, the museum sitting as the epicenter of the activity."

"We had a similar encounter." Ray couldn't help but compare the two events and make notes every difference between the two. "A friend of ours, and her baby, were being targeted by paranormal events and we uncovered a massive river of psychomagnetheric slime flowing beneath the city streets."

"We found the same thing." Hank confirmed. "The slime was a soft pink and seemed to be seeping out of every crack in the pavement and every vent lining the streets. We cleaned it up and tried to isolate it from the rest of the populous but it had already absorbed so much negative energy that the damage was done. By the time Vigo had made his presence known he had already taken the curator as his vessel and quickly began regaining his lost strength."

"Our friend managed to get her baby out of harm's way before Vigo took him as his vessel. When we arrived he came prepared with positively charged slime and used it to neutralize Vigo's barrier of negative energy just long enough to get inside the museum and face off against him."

"It took all out of proton packs at maximum power levels to break through the barricade." Hank steadily began to sound more and more depressed as he recounted the events of the confrontation with with Vigo to Ray. "When we finally got in it was too late. Vigo attacked us. He sent out such a powerful shockwave of energy that we went flying out of the museum and watched as he took off into the sky using the curator ask his new body. After declaring his return and promising to become the supreme ruler of Earth he took off and isolated himself on the abandoned Shandor Island out in the middle of the Hudson River."

"Shandor Island never sank?"

"Sank? No. It was just abandoned after a massive explosion leveled most of the castle in the 1930s. The public was denied access to ever since."

"Interesting."

"Anyway, we went after Vigo using a ferry to get to the island. Once there we encountered so many ghosts, demons, ghouls, goblins... We drained our reserve proton packs, too. All we could do use was use the traps and smaller, less efficient packs to try and deal with Vigo. As you can imagine, it didn't go well."

Ray sat upright in his chair again as he prepared himself to hear about the tragedy that befell the Ghostbusters of this parallel world.

"Vigo took shelter in the heart of the castle, at least the portions of the castle that were still intact." Hank's eyes began to glisten with repressed sorrow. "We thought we could use the ionized energy from our traps to pull Vigo away from the curator's body so we could weaken Vigo with our combined packs, but the traps weren't strong enough. The chaos of the ensuring battle caused the already unstable castle to collapse even further and we became separated in the dilapidated castle. When Vigo was done toying with us he sent out another pulse of pure psychokinetic energy that turned he castle into a pile of rubble."

Hank paused momentarily. Staring down at his own hands he seemed to disappear into his own dark memories.

"How... How did you escape?" Ray was as entranced by the story as he was frightened by the idea of failing to stop Vigo.

"John. He saved my life." Hank was beginning to lose his cool as he spoke but quickly regained his composure. "I was buried under the rubble and he pulled me out. I almost suffocated from being buried alive, but he got me out of there just in time. After he carried me back to the ferry he went back to the castle to look for the others but-"

John appeared at the top of the stairs with three awkwardly balanced mugs of coffee. "Here. Sorry about taking so long, but the coffee maker is on the fritz and the only working outlet is in the basement."

Ray took a mug from John's hand and sipped it, politely hiding his grimace as the cheap coffee tasted foul. "Thanks."

"Now Ray," John handed Hank a mug before he sat down at the table between the two men. "you said you and your team took Vigo down. Do you think you can help us do the same?"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	6. For A New Future

Ray considered John's question with deep thought and internal debate. The world in which Vigo had reigned supreme was no his own, but a parallel world. Does he have the right interfere with the events of a different world? John and Hank were fellow Ghostbusters but of that different world as well. Should it be Ray's responsibility to help them? And if he did help the parallel world Ghostbusters would that have a negative effect or repercussion to his world and his team?

"I'll... I'll think about it." Ray hated himself for not saying 'yes', but there was simply too many questions that still needed to be answered before he agreed to anything.

"Thanks," John could see that Ray was in turmoil. "that's all we could ask for."

Hank pushed aside his mug of coffee and stretched his shoulders. "All I'm asking for is a descent night's sleep."

"Good idea." John agreed with his partner and finished the last of his coffee. "Let's go to bed. Start fresh in the morning."

"Come on." Hank pointed toward the bunk room as he spoke to Ray. "We have a spare bed you can have for the night."

* * *

Coughing into his icy hands Peter made his way back to the firehouse with his shoulders hunched and arms wrapped protectively around his chilled body. The intense rain had continued to fall in downpour of massive rain drops and tiny snowflakes. The wind gusted in painful bursts that stole Peter's breath as it cut into his flesh. Thoroughly drenched from his late night walk Peter's entire body trembled with the cold as he opened the front door of the firehouse and crept inside.

The firehouse was dark save for the bright light shining through the partially opened doorway to Egon's lab. A shadow danced about in the beam of light as Egon went about his business inside the lab, busily attempting to find a way to understand what had befallen Ray the previous evening.

"Knew he'd be awake." Peter whispered to himself with a slightly amused smirk on his face. Keeping his footsteps light he made his way up the stairs and onto the second floor without drawing any attention from Egon, Winston or Janine. "Need to shower. Need to warm up."

* * *

Ray laid on the bed in the bunk room with his hands folded over his stomach and stared up at the white ceiling and counted the numerous cracks in the plaster that marred the otherwise smooth surface. The unusually quite ambience of the city made Ray feel even further from home. While the bunk room was familiar and he wasn't alone, he wasn't home.

The offer was tantalizing his thoughts and causing an emotional, ethical conflict within. What if John was right and Ray couldn't get back to his own world? Would that make this new world his home? And if it is home doesn't he have a responsibility to keep it safe? John and Hank were his friends now, they took him in and helped him when he needed it, should he do the same? Could his arrival into this new world destabilized the planes between? Would his actions result in catastrophe if he continued to roam a world that he didn't belong.

So many questions...

John was asleep on the bed to Ray's right while Hank was asleep on the bed directly across from him. Both men were light sleepers and would constantly turn over in an attempt get comfortable enough to sleep. It seemed as though the two men were constantly on their guard, but their hearts were still open to those in need. Whatever happened to them after the confrontation on Shandor Island had stuck with them, and would undoubtedly leave a behind a huge, painful scar.

"Wonder what the guys are up to?" Ray spoke very softly as thought out loud to try and push the conundrum from his mind. Putting one arm under his head he shut his eyes and tried to relax. "Wonder if they even know that I'm still alive?"

* * *

Peter turned the shower's temperature its maximum heat and just stood under the in the hot water with his eyes shut. It felt good to warm up physically after cooling off mentally. Though he wasn't quite ready to bring himself to apologize to Egon for snapping at him or making him feel as though he was somehow responsible for the accident, he wasn't angry with Egon anymore.

An powerful sneeze snuck up on Peter which caused him to use the shower to wash the spittle away from his face. Wiping his hand over his face he flinched as he felt his icy cold nose despite standing in the hot water.

"Oh, that's not good." Peter cleared his throat after the sneeze and felt a dull ache in his head. "Great move Venkman. Ray's missing you decided to have a hissy fit in the rain. Can't help Ray if I get sick."

Turning off the shower Peter wrapped himself in a towel and listened to the water dripping from the shower head onto the floor. In the steamy reflection of the mirror Peter could see his pale complexion and that his nose was slightly red.

"Find Ray first, then I can lay down and be sick and miserable." He told himself as he tossed aside the towel and put on a dry t-shirt and pair of gray sweatpants. "Better see how Egon's holding up. If he works himself into the ground then Ray doesn't have a chance..."

Refusing to admit he was ill or weak Peter chose to lay down on his bed for the remainder of the night and proceed to help Egon and Winston in the morning. Ray's safety was the priority. Peter's stubbornness held no value and would need to be set aside for the sake of camaraderie, friendship and trust.

Laying down on his bed Peter shut his eyes and coughed once. "We'll bring you home Ray. Just be patient buddy."

* * *

Ray was awoken by the sound of John and Hank moving about in the garage of the firehouse. Sitting up in the bed it took Ray a moment to realize where he was as the bunk room wasn't the same as the one in his world. The lack of his colleagues' personal possessions and morning habits made the bunk room feel like an unnatural tomb.

Joining his new friends downstairs in the garage Ray spotted Hank under the opened hood of their modified ambulance while John was locked away in the small office space checking multiple radio frequencies and trying to make contact with other survivors.

"Good morning." Ray greeted his friends in a low tone. "Hey, I've been thinking and I-"

Hank looked up from the hood, turned around and leaned against the front bumper. He wiped away engine grease on a red rag and gave Ray his full attention. "Before you say anything further I just want you to know that you don't owe us anything and you don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

Ray nodded in appreciative respect. "Thank you." Ray folded his hands together and let out a deep breath. "As much as I hate making decisions without knowing all the details, I want find a way to help you stop Vigo."

Hank visibly relaxed and tossed aside the rag. "Man, I had a feeling you would! I can't even begin to thank you!"

The door to the small office opened and shut as John walked outside and into the garage. "Thank him for what?"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	7. To Ally and Realign

Ray studied John's expression. The psychologist, much like Peter, had mastered the art of keeping his doubt and sorrow masked behind a grin of faux confidence. The only tell behind these poker faces of fearlessness came from the eyes heavy with emotion, betraying the false facade in a matter of seconds.

"I was just telling Hank that I want to help you stop Vigo."

John's posture relaxed as he stood before Ray. "You have no idea how much we needed to hear that."

"Oh, I have some idea." Ray joked playfully. "I've dealt with this Carpathian butcher a few years ago. I know how important it is to stop him."

"Wait," John's eyebrow arched in confusion. "you faced off with Vigo a couple years back?"

"Yeah... Why?"

John looked past Ray and toward Hank who was still leaning against the bumper of the ambulance. Hank nodded once as if he already knew what John wanted to say. "Ray," John put a hand on the engineer's shoulder. "all that you see around you; all of the carnage and waster and fear... This all happened six weeks ago."

* * *

Egon sat behind the desk with a partially completed second prototype sitting before him. The device was crude in design, nowhere near as refined as Ray's original prototype, and still needed a stable power source before even attempting to try to turn it on. While Egon patiently adjusted the wires and checked the circuit boards Winston had placed himself in the garage with a special device used specifically for testing power and energy for the various battery components Ray had accumulated over the years.

Janine joined Winston at the tool bench at the far end of the garage curiously. "Don't you have a spare battery from the original prototype you can use?"

"We do, but right now our working theory is that the power source was the cause of the malfunction." Winston explained as he noted the current readout on the latest battery being tested. "We're going to use the original battery to power up the new prototype and compare the two energy levels to ensure that the two prototypes are identical, then we're going to use the next battery to, hopefully, stabilize the new prototype for further study."

"Sounds complicated." Janine admitted as she stared at the dozens of batteries that were strewn across the tool bench.

"Sounds complicated," Winston set aside one battery and picked up a second. "because it is complicated. But we can handle it."

"I sure hope so." Janine looked at the clock on the wall, watched Winston work beside her and glanced over her shoulder to the lab where Egon was meticulously working on calculations and the structure of the prototype. "Where's Dr. V at during all this?"

"Asleep. I think."

"Well I'm going to go wake him up. You and Egon can't do all this work by yourselves!"

* * *

Ray was dumbfounded by the revelation of the time frame revolving around Vigo's reign of terror. It had taken only a few days to break the spirits of the New Yorkers who fell prey to Vigo's wrath and a few weeks to drive the population to flee in a mass exodus. Fear and caution had fueled the hasty construction of the barricades to keep Vigo's power contained with the city and to keep survivors who sought shelter elsewhere from returning.

"Just... six weeks." Ray couldn't believe the level of destruction committed in such a small amount of time, let alone the difference in time between the two worlds. "I need to know today's date."

"Uh, here." Hank looked around for the calendars that had been hanging on the wall; the days marked and chronicled ever since Vigo's arrival. Handing Ray the calendar he watched Ray's eyes light up. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah... This world, YOUR world, seems to be two years behind my world. I wonder if this could give us an advantage."

"Two whole years?" Hank confirmed with a shocked expression. "That's incredible."

Ray shook his head. "Looks my world avoided a major cataclysm. If we're going to save your world we need to act fast and we'll need as much help as possible!"

"Yeah." John dropped his hand from Ray's shoulder. "I've been trying to make contact with our Chicago franchise for back-up but there's nothing but static."

"Maybe Vigo's power has created sometime of shield blocking radio frequencies." Hank suggested with a sharp observation.

"I hope that's what's happening." John admitted feeling a little nervous. "If we can't reach Chicago then I doubt our other franchises are going to do any better."

Ray's own curiosity was piqued. "Other franchises? We only recently established a second team in Chicago, how many do you have?"

"Uh, New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami, Los Angeles and Houston."

"Wow! How'd-"

There was a loud crackle on the radio in the small office. John rushed back into the room in an attempt to answer the call before contact was lost.

"Someone must've heard the call." Ray stated with a intrigued tone. "Friend or foe?"

"Let's hope for friend." Hank replied as he stood next to Ray and watched John slip the headphones on over his ears and beginning speaking into the microphone. "We've had Vigo's minions communicating with one another over our frequency before, scared the Hell out of us."

"We've had ghosts interfere with our equipment, too. Very unsettling."

Hank didn't want to wait for John to finish the call before continuing to ask Ray about how he and his team defeated Vigo. "About dealing with our 'mutual friend' the tyrant," Hank resumed casually. "how'd you and your team take him down?"

"We used the same slime that Vigo had used to spread his malevolence all through the city streets. We collected enough of the pink stuff to experiment on and even create new equipment that revolved around the slime."

"How does that work?"

"Well, Vigo used the slime after it was charged by negative energy from all of the angry, bitter people in New York and it was very effective. What we did was take the same slime and positively charge it so counteract the negativity."

"Psychomagnatheric properties make excellent catalysts for absorbing and retaining energy." Hank considered Ray's answer with a scientific outlook. "That's brilliant. I wish we had thought of it."

"Hey, we found the slime long before we found Vigo. We spent hours upon hours studying the slime without any interference, so we had time as an advantage; not a hindrance."

John returned from the office with a look of despondence in his dark eyes. "That was our Chicago branch."

"What's going on?" Hank dared to ask, his voice heavy with reluctance.

"The barriers are beginning to weaken throughout New York. They've detected a huge surge in PKE waves expanding beyond the city limits. If we don't stop Vigo within forty-eight hours all of New York will be wiped off the map by a single, massive ion bomb."

"A... bomb?" Ray stammered fearfully. "Your world has an ion bomb? We could bring ourselves to make such a powerful weapon..."

John nodded in shameful confirmation. "We created it as a last ditch weapon only; a trump car, in the event that we came across a paranormal event that couldn't be contained by normal means. It was locked up inside a warehouse just outside of the city, the only one who has the access code is our partner in City Hall."

"Yeah, but there's no way Wally would go through with it!" Hank defended assuredly. "He's our friend, he wouldn't leave us here to die."

"Wally?" Ray was struggling to keep track of the new names and Ghostbuster allies in the new world.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. He was our number one supporter back when we first got started. Hell, he even got us the proper funding to open all our other franchises across the country."

"Wow. Anyone I know?" Ray was impressed by their contact's positive influence. "Maybe we can recruit him back in my world!"

"Do you know a Walter Peck?"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	8. Emotions and Trust

The name seemed somehow foreign, if not completely in error as Ray tried to contemplate Walter Peck being an ally to the Ghostbusters, let alone a chief supporter. The stubborn, former E.P.A. agent had been so adamant in shutting down the Ghostbusters after his less than cordial introduction to Dr. Peter Venkman that it seemed Peck and Venkman would remain enemies for life.

"Walter... Peck." Ray repeated the same slowly and carefully. "Wal-ter... Peck." As he enunciated the name his eyes flashed with an inquisitive stare as he waited for either John or Hank to correct him. "About my height, slender build, reddish hair, blue eyes and a goatee?"

"...Yes." Hank confirmed with a hesitating lilt. "Is there something wrong with him?"

"Uh... It's a little difficult to explain." Ray admitted feeling silly about the trivial feud that was far from professional.

John laughed at the remark. "Can you simplify it for us?"

"Well," Ray began the story feeling childish about the entire ordeal. "when we met Peck who was working with the E.P.A. and performing a routine inspection, Dr. Venkman; MY Dr. Venkman," Ray clarified with an emphatic tone. "was rude and uncooperative. Peck returned with a court order and shut down our containment unit despite the warnings, and our containment unit exploded and as a result a massive surge of psychokinetic energy hastened Gozer's return. We stopped Gozer after causing massive damage to the city which put us out business for five years and left Peck without a respectable title or reputation for about seven years."

"Oh." John nodded sarcastically as he smirked with a mild amusement. "I can see why he'd have a chip on his shoulder."

Hank rubbed at his slightly stubbled chin thoughtfully. "Wally supported us and his boss didn't like that he was willing to believe in paranormal abnormalities and that our work was for the great good. He was fired so we hired him on the team as our P.R. agent and then he became our liaison between us and anything government official."

Ray just stared at Hank with disbelief. "Why did you guys get the open minded Walter Peck and we get the pencil pushing prick version?"

"Who knows?" Hank let out a small chuckle. "Maybe there's a parallel world where YOU'RE the pencil pushing prick HE'S the Ghostbuster!"

Ray visibly flinched. "Perish the thought..."

John clapped his hands together to gain focus of the conversation. "Now, let's get to business. We need to find a way to stop Vigo before the city is wiped off the map. Any suggestions?"

"Yeah, I know what we can do." Ray answered confidently. He immediately thought back to the experiments he and Egon has performed while they sought the solution to their Vigo problem in their world. "How much of the psychomagnetheric slime do you have left?"

* * *

Janine usually crept into the bunk room whenever one of the Ghostbusters were resting in their beds, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not disturb the sleeping me, but at that moment she didn't care. Peter needed to be awake and needed to be helping his colleagues, his friends. They needed to find out what had happened to Ray.

"Dr. V?" She called out rather loudly as she entered the room at a determined pace. She stood next to his bed with her feet planted in place and her hands on her hips. Peter had rolled onto his side in his sleep. She stared at his back and sighed loudly. "Dr. V, wake up!"

Peter didn't budge from his sleep or react to her authoritative voice.

"Don't try to ignore me!" Janine declared stubbornly as she reached a hand out to grab his shoulder. "I know you're-" As soon as her hand touched his shoulder she felt how unnaturally warm his skin was beneath the fabric of his shirt. "Dr. V? Are you feeling okay?"

With some difficulty Janine managed to roll Peter partially over from his side and onto his back. His pale face was almost frightening to look at as he remained asleep, if not unconscious.

"Oh no." She moved her hand from his shoulder to his forehead to check his temperature. Unsurprisingly he was running a fever. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were sick."

Peter's eyes fluttered opened as he suddenly became aware of Janine's presence and he stared at her with a glassy haze that made him seem like an otherworldly creature. "Janine? What're you doing in here?" As he regarded her with his bloodshot, fever red eyes his own natural eye color was intensely bright, yet his actual eyes seemed distant.

"Well, I _was_ going to haul your sorry butt downstairs so you would help Egon and Winston work, but now that I know you're sick I'm going to let you go back to sleep."

"Not sick." Peter tried to lie as he also tried to sit up on his bed. He failed at both attempts. "Just tired. I was out late last night."

"Yeah, in that cold rain I bet!"

"I swear I'm just tired Janine." Peter insisted poorly.

"No, Egon is tired. Winston is tired. You, are undeniably, sick." Janine corrected like a mother would a child. "You have a fever."

"Well, do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell the guys that."

Janine's eyes widened slightly with surprise. She sat on the edge of Peter's bed, her shoulders slouching as tension left her body and was replaced with concern. She took her hand from his forehead and rested it on his arm. "Why not?"

"Because they'd stop working on a way to save Ray. Egon would be too focused on trying to help me because he still feels guilty about what happened to Ray." Peter sighed and winced at the throb of the headache that was ebbing away at his mental resolve. "It's my fault he feels guilty, I admit it. But it won't be my fault that any attempt to help Ray gets delayed."

"And I can't tell Winston because...?"

"He's a marine. He goes above and beyond the call of duty and I want him to keep his attention Egon so he doesn't over exert himself."

Janine smiled a little. "Wow Dr. V, I never took you for the self-sacrificing type of guy."

"That's something else you can't tell the guys." He quipped without missing a beat. "They'll ask me to do things."

"Tell you what," Janine rose from the bed and walked toward the washroom. "I won't tell them you're sick if you let me help you. I'm going to get you some Ibuprofen for that fever and headache you're trying to ignore."

"As long as you don't break out the leeches I'm fine with that!"

* * *

John hefted a large cylindrical metal container, much like an oil drum, of the remaining pink slime out of the storage room in the depths of the dark basement, and sat down in the middle of the garage. Hank had rigged several large speakers together and set up a disc player so sound could be broadcasted through the speakers when ready.

"Are you sure about this, Ray?" Hank pessimistically asked as he checked the wires on the speakers and the disc player. "This seems a little... weird."

"Positive!" Ray answered as he sorted through the various CD's in the music collection of the Ghostbusters. It seemed another shared trait between the two parallel worlds revolved around music and taste. "I'm just glad your collection is so much like the one we used."

Hank tested the speakers and backed away. "I just hope this works."

John opened the lid of the container with a crowbar and also took a step back. "Worried about a noise complaint?" He asked sarcastically.

"No, just worried about losing what's left my sanity."

"Still?"

"Ah-ha!" Ray called out as he pulled a choice CD from the collection. "Jackie Wilson!"

"Jackie Wilson?" John questioned with the same pessimism as Hank.

"Trust me," Ray insisted as he put the disc in the player. "this gave our slime an immense amount of positive energy in a very short amount of time."

"Okay, whatever you say." John put his hands over his ears. "I'd rather go deaf at a Def Leppard concert, but with Vigo on the loose I think my options are limited."

Hank mimicked his partner and protected his ears as well. "Whenever you're ready."

"Okay, here we go." Ray pressed play and stepped backward like his friends. He too covered his ears and shouted to the others. "This song, 'Higher and Higher' is pretty potent!"

"What?" John teased.

"I said-" Ray suddenly caught on to the joke and gave him a playfully annoyed glance. "Right..."

As the song started blaring through the speakers the three men stepped back even further away from the speakers and pressed their hands harder against their ears.

"Nothing's happening!" Hank yelled as he uncomfortably endured the loud sound.

"Just wait!" Ray encouraged as he stared with expectant glee at the pink mass of slime.

John shook his head. "This is-"

The slime inside the tall container began to bubble in response to the music. Ray's grin widened while John and Hank exchanged confused glances. As the song progressed the slime bubbled again and the container began to shudder.

"What's going on?" John asked as he stared at the slime with curiosity.

Soon the entire container began to shake rhythmically along with the song. The slime began to act more sentient and began oozing with a life and energy of its own.

"Yeah!" Ray cheered as the positively charged slime began to react just as he expected it to. "It worked!"

Hank put his foot down on the power cord to the disc player and pulled it down, away from the outlet. The song ended abruptly and the slime stopped moving, though the liveliness seemed to linger.

"Is this what you guys seriously did in your world?" John asked while laughing. "Get outta' here!"

"No joke." Ray stepped toward the barrel and patted it with his hand. "This stuff not only saved our friend, her baby and the city; it saved me!"

Hank stepped toward the barrel and stared at the opaque pink mass inside. "So... We have the ammo. But where's the gun? How do we use this?"

"Now that," Ray raised a hand and pointed to Hank with a mischievous grin on his face. "is the fun part!"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	9. Resolve and Determination

Discreetly Janine walked down from the second floor of the firehouse and into the garage. Winston had finished testing the various batteries and power sources and had rejoined Egon in the lab. The two men were working tirelessly to complete the build of the second crudely designed prototype and hadn't noticed that Janine was now standing in the doorway watching them in respectful silence.

Egon's eyes were red from fatigue with dark circles that emphasized the bloodshot hue around his dark irises. Winston's usually perfect posture that resulted from his marine discipline was slouched as he hunched over the prototype, holding it steady while Egon finished soldering the wires and circuit boards.

"This should be accurate to the original design." Egon confirmed as he checked it work by running his fingertips over the perfectly attached wire leads. "If the power remains stable we can analyze the energy output and overall frequency levels long enough to determine what had happened to Ray during the bust."

"I hope you're right." Winston took his hands from the prototype, stood up straight and tried to stretch his tired back. "Should we take this prototype out to one of our testing ranges or back to the museum?"

"Museum." Egon stated without hesitation. "We must return to the scene of the incident to ensure no potential variable is overlooked."

Picking up a PKE meter Winston aimed the portable scanner over the second prototype and turned it on. "Whenever you're ready."

"Right." Egon took in a deep breath to steel his nerves before picking up the release trigger attached to the prototype. With a a swift motion he pressed down on the trigger release and watched as the doors at the top of the trap burst open releasing the ionized light within. Egon and Janine turned to look away from the intense light but neither left the lab. "What are the readings?"

Winston squinted to look at the meter display without hurting his eyes by looking into the bright light. "Readings are stable. Power levels are within accepted parameters. No energy fluctuations."

"Powering down." Egon pressed down on the trigger for the second time which caused the trap doors to slam shut. "We need to compare the PKE readings of this prototype to the readings recorded during the bust. If we can detect any anomalies we can finally find a lead on Ray's fate."

* * *

Hank led Ray into the arsenal of weapons, gadgets and equipment in the secondary basement of the firehouse. The basement was set up very much like the basement in Ray's world; open room, brick walls lined with metal shelves, concrete floor and a large doorway the connected to a massive second basement. Even the ecto-containment unit was similar in design. A large, round metal vault built into the brick wall with accurate gauges and display panels to track the numerous ghosts contained within.

"This is where we store our most powerful pieces of equipment." Hank explained as he flicked on the light in the second basement. "For the most part we stick to our proton packs, but in the event of stronger entities reeking havoc in the city we have back-up."

"I'll say..."

The overhead light illuminated the previously pitch black room and revealed the walls of the basement lined with tall, long shelves filled with various gadgets and weapons designed specifically for catching ghosts.

"It that a... pistol?" Ray asked as he stepped near the shelf and pointed to an oddly designed gun secured to the shelf.

"Yeah. It's a weapon of my own design." Hank carefully picked up the modified gun and held it in both hands for Ray to see. "In the interior of the barrel has the same protonic lining of our pack throwers and the bullets are spent shell casings refilled with ionized energy. One shot into the body of a ghost is strong enough to stabilize the PKE energy being exhibited by the ghost without causing harm to anything else around it."

"Does it work on all ghosts?"

"It works best on smaller ghosts, one shot each. When we get the bigger sized baddies it takes more bullets to subdue them."

"How many of these do you have?"

"Just the one." Hank replied honestly. "I was a cop and the only member of the team with proper training. There is a small back-up pistol I created as an emergency last resort. Small enough to hide up your sleeve or tuck in your boot, but it only contains one shot."

"Sometimes one shot is all you need."

Hank smiled as he put the pistol back on the shelf. He pointed to the other gadgets and began explaining their purposes with an enthusiastic glee that Ray could easily relate to. "We also have small hand grenades we can toss into rooms filled with ghosts, we have a type of ghost repellent that prevents ghosts from slipping through walls to evade capture, a mini ghost taser that stuns PKE energy into a stasis field for a short amount of time, motion activated ghost traps and John's personal favorite, the ghost lasso."

"Lasso? How do you lasso a ghost?" Ray asked in a very amused but sincere tone.

"With ionized fiber woven into the rope itself." Hank explained as he held out the rope and pulled the slack taut. "Very effective."

"Clever."

"Over here." Hank set aside the lasso and led Ray over to a work bench area that had an impressive collection of unused metal bodies, containers, wires, circuit boards and power sources sitting on the floor against the wall beside the bench. "Can you use any of this to construct a weapon around that slime of yours?"

"Oh yeah, this perfect." Ray picked up a relatively large container from the pile and sat it down on top of the bench. "I just need a couple of hours and I'll make you a slime-blower that can disable Vigo long enough to gain the upper hand."

"Sounds good." Hank put his hand on Ray's shoulder. "I'll let John know. We might be able to contact Wally and let him know we have a plan while you're working. If you need anything just yell!"

* * *

Egon and Winston loaded the prototype into the back of Ecto-1 and placed several extra batteries into the rear along with it. Neither man wanted to take any chances and have the second prototype fail when they were so close to finding out what had happened to Ray.

"Ready to go?" Winston asked as he slammed the read door shut.

"Yes." Egon replied as he slipped off his white lab coat. "Where is Venkman?"

Janine answered quickly in an even tone on Venkman's behalf. "He's upstairs sleeping. He has a pretty bad headache."

"Headache or hangover?" Egon questioned in a somewhat abrasive tone. Peter's bad habits were pretty well known amongst the team.

"Headache." Janine confirmed. "If he wakes up I'll point him in your direction."

"No. Don't bother." Egon insisted as he pulled open the front passenger door of the hearse. "We'll be back soon enough."

Winston climbed into the hearse behind the steering wheel and turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life and the hearse pulled out of the garage at a moderate speed down the street toward the museum.

Janine shook her head disapprovingly as she watched the hearse disappear from sight. "Ray, you better come back to us soon. The guys need you."

* * *

John was sitting in the small communications office switching the radio between frequencies as he spoke into the attached microphone in an attempt to make contact with Wally outside of the city one last time. The headphones were turned up to maximum volume and the microphone was caught in a death grip ion his hand. Static filled the air but with a little tenacity and a lot of patience John was finally able to hear the voice of his friend breaking through the interference.

"Wally! Wally man, talk to me! Over."

" _John_? _Good to hear from you_." Wally's voice was garbled but still intelligible. " _Are you and Hank holding up alright_? _Over_."

"Yeah, we're good." John confirmed. "We have a new ally, he's going to help us take out Vigo. Over."

" _New ally_? _How did that happen_? _Over_."

"Long story, I'll tell ya' later. Just do us a favor, we need you to give us as much time as possible to face off against Vigo, at least forty-eight hours. So give the slack jawed suit monkeys the 'Delta launch codes'. Over."

" _Delta_?" Wally confirmed, his voice carrying a soft laugh as he spoke. " _I'll do what I can. Over_."

"Thanks man." John sighed and ran his hand over his face and into his hair that was sticking out wildly from under the headphone band on the top of his head. "Look, I just want you to know that if something goes wrong just promise me you'll get the remaining survivors out of the city before you wipe Vigo off the map. Over."

" _If something goes wrong_?" Wally had never heard John speak in such a doubtful tone before. " _John, is there something going on I should know about_? _Over_."

"No, I just... I just want to make sure everything is taken care of. Over."

" _I see_. _Okay, you guys take care of things in there and I'll take care of things out here. Be safe. Over_."

"Yeah, we will." John paused for a moment as he collected his racing thoughts. "And Wally, thanks for everything you've done for us. You're a true friend. Over."

" _Same to you. Over_."

On that last disconcerting thought John turned off the radio and slipped the headphones from his ears. He put his face between his hands and let out a groan of despair as as he sat alone in the office feeling utterly helpless. "All or nothing. Tonight I'm going to give it my all, so it better not be for nothing."

 ** _...to be continued..._  
**


	10. Something to Believe In

Hank approached the small office without making a sound as he observed his distraught partner sitting behind the desk. The radio was off, the headphones were set aside and John was sitting in abject silence as something painfully heavy weighed against his mind.

"You okay John?"

"Fine." He lied as he sat back against the chair and turned his head to look at Hank. "Just thinking."

"About the past?"

"No. The future."

Sighing Hank walked into the office and leaned against the desk. "I know it's been rough but everything will be okay. I just know it. We're going to stop Vigo, I'm going to find my way and we're all going to rebuild our lives in peace. Believe it!"

"That's thing, I do, but..." John shook his head. "Forget it. It's not important. What's Ray doing?"

Hank didn't want to stop talking about whatever it was that was pressing John's faith but decided to respect his friend's wish and answered the question. "Ray is going to make us a 'slime-blower' so we can take down Vigo. Did you make contact with Wally?"

"Yeah, I told him to use the Delta codes to buy us some time."

"Good idea. Hopefully we won't need it, but it never hurts to have a back-up plan."

"Speaking of which," John motioned to the parked ambulance in the garage. "let's load up as much emergency supplies and equipment as possible. No mistakes this time."

* * *

Ray had just finished the construction of the slime-blower, using a more refined and smaller design in comparison to the original slime-blowers that he and Egon had built two years prior. Matching this design to the alternate design now implemented by the team, which combined the proton pack and slime blower into a single piece, Ray attached his creation to the unoccupied spare frame and strapped it to his back.

"Powering up..." He told himself and switched the device from 'off' to 'on'. The pack whirred to life and the power level remained stable. "Everything is holding firm."

Walking toward the exit of the large basement his eye was drawn to the ion pistols that Hank had devised. The array and ingenious construction of the weapons was beautiful like a piece of art.

"Need to remember to utilize this design if I-" He paused and corrected himself. "WHEN I get back to my world. I will find a way back, I know it."

Powering down the pack Ray looked at the stairway across the basement and knew his new friends, the allies who had saved him and were willing to trust him with the fate of their world, were waiting for him.

* * *

With special permission from the museum curator Egon and Winston were able to vacate the location of their previous bust and use it for scientific research. Fortunately the immediate location had closed off for clean up and repair which gave the duo plenty of space and opportunity to recreate the event that had caused Ray to disappear.

"Ready?" Winston asked as he set the second prototype down on the floor and backed away.

"Ready." Egon waited for Winston to be clear of the trap radius before pressing the switch. The two men used their arms to protect their eyes from the impending bright light. "Opening trap."

Just as before the prototype burst open with a strong beam of ionized light and the power fluctuations remained stable. By all accounts the prototype was a complete success.

"Closing trap." Egon pressed the trigger and the doors shut. "We have our controlled readings and our previous reading. Ready for the original prototype."

"Right." Winston switched the two prototypes and did just as before. Standing clear of the trap's range he nodded to Egon and shielded his eyes. "Ready."

Pressing the trigger the original prototype reacted just as it had before. The doors on the top of the trap jammed and wouldn't open fully. Egon pressed the trigger once and then twice to quickly shut the doors and try to open them again. The doors were free of the jam and opened fully giving the two Ghostbusters a clear reading on energy levels and frequencies.

"Shutting down."

Winston lowered his arm as the trap shut and the test was completed. "Okay, let's check the readings."

Analyzing the three sets of data with a quick but precised calculation Egon's brow arched in confusing. "This isn't correct."

"What's wrong?" Winston asked as he gathered the two prototypes and slung them over his shoulders.

"These readings are identical in every way. There should be a mass change in power levels and energy frequencies, and yet everything is matching." He stared at the room with an intense glare. "Something is different. But what?"

Winston glanced about the room and thought back to the bust that had caused Ray to disappear. While giving the room a careful once over he realized what was different about the room. "There's no slime."

"There's no..." Egon's mind began racing as he took into consideration the PKE signature emitted by the average possessor and calculated the potential changes in the ionization energy levels. "Winston, you've solved the formula."

"I did?" Winston was surprised that the solution was something as simple as slime. "How? What does the slime have to do with anything?"

"We need to return to the firehouse. I now know what we need to do to find Ray."

* * *

Peter was laying on his side in his bed feeling absolutely horrendous. Not only was his headache as intense as ever but he was burning up and freezing at the same time. It felt like his whole body was betraying him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Janine was sitting on the edge of his bed with her hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Are you sure you don't to tell Egon you're sick? He's always been able to help you before."

"No..." Peter muttered as he pressed his face into his pillow. "Ray is more important."

"So is your friendship with Egon." Janine reminded him without skipping a beat. "When he and Winston left I told them you were sleeping off a headache, but his first assumption was that you were hungover."

Peter laughed a little. "If I were him I'd think the same thing..."

"That's not the point." Janine stated as she pressed her hand against his forehead. "You're both still made at each other, you're both too stubborn to apologize and you've got a high fever. Only one of these things I can help you with, the other two problems are your own."

"You'll apologize for me?" Peter quipped sharply.

Janine retracted her hand from his forehead. "I'm going to get you some ice."

"...and I didn't get you anything..." He murmured to himself as Janine left the room. As soon as he was alone he let out an intense groan of pain. "Besides, it's not like me apologizing is going to bring Ray back. And Egon has every right to be mad at me..."

* * *

Ray introduced the slime-blower to John and Hank and demonstrated the proper use of said weapon. A quick explanation and a small demo on the far wall of the garage illustrated beautifully how efficient and powerful the piece of equipment would be against Vigo.

"All we need to do is top off the slime." Ray happily stated as he loaded the positively charged slime from large the storage barrel and into the storage tank of the slime blower itself. "We'll be able to bring a couple refills too, but I don't think they'll be necessary."

"Pink slime." John bluntly observed. "You took down an undead tyrant of death and destruction with pink slime that creates 'feel-good' vibes. How did you ever think to use this 'mood' slime against him?"

Ray couldn't help but smile as John used the same term Peter had when the benefits of the slime had just been discovered. "You never know unless you try, right? Besides, this stuff is POTENT."

"How so?" Hank asked as he loaded up a refill container with the same pink slime.

"Just a spoonful was enough to make our toaster dance," Ray remarked as he sealed up the supply tank. "and a healthy coating on the inside of the Statue of Liberty got her moving from Ellis Island all the way downtown."

"Statue of... what?" John asked.

"Of... of Liberty." Ray looked up and gave John a puzzled look. "Big, gorgeous statue? Gift from the French? Icon of New York City?"

John started smiling wickedly as he successfully messed with Ray. Hank himself started to laugh as he loaded up the ambulance and secured all the supplies in place.

Once Ray caught onto the joke he started laughing as well. "Not funny."

"It was kinda' funny." John defended himself. "Although one true difference is our Statue of Liberty was a gift from England, not France."

"Well, at least we still have the same allies in these two worlds." Ray brushed off the comment as he hefted the slime-blower into the back of the ambulance and helped Hank to secure it with the rest of the equipment. "So... Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah." John confirmed as he pulled the keys to the ambulance from his jumpsuit pocket. "Let's go save New York."

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	11. Reasons to Try

The modified ambulance that donned the famous 'no ghost' logo of the Ghostbusters pulled out of the garage of the firehouse with Hank behind the wheel, John as his passenger and Ray sitting in the back with the newly developed, yet reliable, ghostbusting equipment. The streets were vacated, even in the daytime, which was incredibly unnerving for Ray as he was still unused to the alternate New York City in which he unwillingly found himself.

Looking through the large windows added to the sides of the ambulance Ray stared at the eerily vacated, dark buildings that lined the streets. Just looking at the buildings; the dark windows, the quiet environment, gave Ray a sense of dread as he realized how truly alone he and this new allies were at that very moment.

Multiple cars had been abandoned as many people had apparently fled the city on foot. Many cars were parked crookedly near the sidewalk or left deserted right in the middle of the streets. Seeing the still opened car doors and hastily torn away seat belts made the sight all the more ominous.

"How long did it take for the city to vacate everyone?" Ray asked in a low, timid voice.

"Not long." John responded just as lowly. "Two days after Vigo claimed Shandor Island it was down to us and the very few supporters who dared to stay behind."

"Where are they? You're supporters, I mean."

"Hiding." John sighed as he stared at the empty streets. "We've only encountered our supported four times over the past six weeks. Whenever we met up they'd give us supplies and tell us about the supernatural activity that they've seen. Fortunately the barricades at the city limits seems to be strong enough to keep the ghosts from escaping."

"So they're all with Vigo on Shandor Island?"

"Yeah. The whole island is HOT with activity."

Hank interject with his own observations. "By all accounts Vigo is amassing an army to take over the world one city at a time. As long as the barricades remain active the ghosts are going to remain stuck in the city."

"What about your colleagues?" Ray asked inquisitively as the ambulance turned from the heart of the city and toward the Hudson River. "You have other Ghostbusters in Chicago and Boston... Why not recruit them to help you here?"

"Chicago is busy sheltering a majority of the vacated New Yorkers," Hank explained darkly. "and Boston is busy dealing with the ghosts that have been stirred up all along the East coast. All of the cities where are franchises have been opened are all ghost hot spots that can't afford to lose any team members for any amount of time."

"That bad?"

"Yeah. It's always been bad, ever since the Gozerian cult resurfaced in '87."

"Gozerian cult members are still active?"

"They were." John turned to look at Ray through the small opening between the front compartment of the ambulance to the rear. "After we stopped Gozer they sort of fled to other cities. They've been stirring up angry spirits in an attempt to strengthen Gozer so we sent our recruits to those cities after they pass their training to keep Gozerian and his diluted fan base under check."

"Smart."

Ray couldn't help but turn his attention back to the streets and the building as the ambulance pulled along the same street where he had opened his book store. But Ray didn't see the sign. Where 'Ray's Occult Books' should sit was now a small photography studio that was just as abandoned and empty as the surrounding buildings.

"Looks like I never opened my shop." Ray murmured to himself. "Or maybe I simply don't exist in the world."

"Thinking of home, Ray?" John asked kindly.

"Something like that."

The ambulance turned off the streets toward the river.

Hank cleared his throat as he pulled the ambulance up to the pier and stared at out the center of the river. "Guys, we're here. It's time."

* * *

Egon and Winston returned to the firehouse with their data gathered and their newest theory ready to be tested. If Winston's observation was correct and ectoplasm was the key in replicating the events that caused Ray to vanish, then there was a chance that they'd be able to find Ray and return him to the world in which he belongs.

"We should have enough ectoplasm in storage to accurately duplicate the environment." Egon stated as he made his way into his lab to run a few calculations. "I'll determine the appropriate amount required, you double check the proton packs and prototype power levels. No mistakes this time."

"Right, I'll get everything ready to go!" Winston called out as he made his way into the basement to the equipment storage below.

Janine had heard Ecto-1 return to the firehouse and walked down the stairs quick enough to see Winston disappear into the basement and Egon rush in his lab.

"Egon? What's going on?"

"We may have discovered the solution and may be able to locate Ray." Egon hastily explained as he began writing out a mathematical equation on the white dry erase board.

"That's great! I'll go tell Dr. V the-"

"No." Egon insisted harshly. "He has made it clear that he does not want to assist. I don't want to deal with Venkman's foul disposition for a second time."

"Egon," she gently put her hand on his left arm and squeezed lightly. His other hand continued to write without any hindrance. "Peter is sick."

"Sick?" Egon immediately stopped writing and looked her in the eyes with puzzlement. "How long has he been ill?"

"Since last night." She hated herself for telling Egon but knew in the end she'd hate herself even more if she let Peter suffer in silence or let Egon and Peter continue to be angry with each other. "He took a walk late last night and got caught in the rain. I heard him leave and return when I stayed last night."

"Damn it." Egon eye's narrowed in frustration as he resumed his calculations. "He should have told me."

"He didn't want you and Winston to stop looking for Ray just to worry about him. That's why I've been keeping an eye on him."

Egon's stern gaze slowly softened in intensity. "How sick is Venkman? What are his current symptoms?"

"Bad headache and fever."

"Cough? Nausea? Congestion?"

"No. Just those two symptoms." Janine confirmed with relief in her voice. "I gave him some Ibuprofen and it seemed to help."

"Good. I'll check on him later." Egon finished the equation and checked his work for any flaws. "Please check in with Winston and see if he requires any assistance."

"Sure, no problem." Janine gracefully slipped from the lab and retreated to the basement on Egon's request.

Egon capped the black marker and set it aside without a second thought. "Damn it Venkman, your stubbornness will be the death of us both."

* * *

Standing on the edge of the pier with only the red and blue flashing lights of the parked ambulance behind them to provide any motion or illumination over the pier, Ray, John and Hank stared in righteously abject awe at the shadowed island sitting in the middle of the Hudson River. The dark energy emitted by Vigo and his minions had created a massive black cloud of ethereal fog that concealed the massive castle in the middle of the island.

"There it is." John observed with a level, yet ambivalent tone. "Shandor Island."

"And Vigo is waiting for us." Hank tagged on.

Ray gave his new allies a confident glance. "And we're prepared for him."

"Yeah." Hank put his hand approvingly on Ray's shoulder. "He better be!"

"Come on," Ray motioned to the ambulance behind him. "let's get the gear."

John remained planted where he stood. The horrible memories of their previous encounter with Vigo was actively haunting his mind. The guilt of failing to stop Vigo was potent enough, but knowing that he failed to save the lives of three of his team mates; three of his best friends, was pushing him to emotional breaking point.

Redemption was at hand.

Ray pulled open the back doors of the ambulance and helped Hank to remove the security straps from the all important equipment.

"I hate to pry, especially at a time like this," Ray kept his voice quiet as he addressed Hank hesitantly. "but what happened to your other team members?"

Hank visibly flinched, his back straightening and his eyes glistening with emotion. "That's right, I never got to finish my story." Hank admitted as he proceeded the proper equipment checklist. "After the castle collapsed our team mates were... crushed. They never had a chance."

"You and John managed to escape." Ray bowed his head in respectful mourning. "Losing a colleague is something I hope everyday to never experience. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it was rough to say the least." Hank hoisted a proton pack up and onto his shoulders. "When I came to on the ferry John had just returned with... With Joel's body over his shoulder. Once we got back to the city we took our friends and dug graves for them in Central Park, right next to the lake."

"A proper burial is all I would ever want if I was the one to... You know, go."

Hank nodded appreciatively. "It's been tough trying to finish our work, trying to find a way to stop Vigo with just the two of us, but we haven't given up. I think that's the hardest part, it being just the two of us."

Ray understood Hank's mindset very well. "I know. It was hard when my team started out as a trio. We added a fourth member and he's been an invaluable asset ever since. I can't imagine trying to face off against Vigo as just a duo."

Hank's demeanor darkened to match his current frame of mind. "I spent every night asking myself why I lived when the others didn't. I mean, I was in the castle when it collapsed right alongside them. Why did they die and I get to live?"

"Hey," Ray put his hand on Hank's shoulder. "don't let yourself go there. We may be men of science and we claim to know all the answers, but you and I both know that there are some questions that can never be answered."

Looking back from the ambulance to John, who was standing statuesque on the edge of the pier, he couldn't help but notice how much John reminded him of his own team. John was a natural leader; fearless but understanding, determined yet kind. Behind those dark brown eyes of sorrow and regret a soul brimming with life and love stared out at the island.

"John is so familiar to me," Ray admitted as he turned his attention back to the equipment at hand. "at first I thought I had him placed as a dream figure or a sense of deja vu, now I know it's because he alone seems to embody my entire team back home."

Much like Egon, the resident physicist, John had mastered the art of emotional discipline and never let his true negative feelings or thoughts show through. His courage and ability to keep his cool in the face of danger was eerily reminiscent of Peter's attitude on life. The loyalty and refusal to leave friends behind was like holding up a mirror to Winston.

"Amazing how one good guy can remind you of so many others."

"Yeah, he is a good guy. But John's been blaming himself for our friends' deaths ever since." Hank lamented. "After we buried our friends, our own team mates, I managed to make contact with Tiyah with the radio in the ambulance before we returned to the firehouse to pick up the pieces."

"Tiyah? Is she your wife?" Ray asked as the name sounded kind of familiar for a reason he couldn't quite place. "You mentioned her before."

"Yeah. We've been together for ten years and I hope to be together for even longer." Hank picked up a second proton pack for John to wear.

"She's safe, right?"

"Yeah, she's okay. She went to Chicago to help the survivors who fled New York and assist our team out there. Being an M.D. really has its advantages and disadvantages, you know?"

"Don't worry." Ray slammed the ambulance doors after pulling the slime-blower from its compartment and slipping it onto his shoulders. "You'll see her again."

"Thanks man."

Hank and Ray rejoined John at the pier. "You two ready?" John asked without ever pulling his eyes from the island in the foggy distance.

"Yeah." Ray confirmed as he powered up the slime-blower. "Lead the way."

John motioned toward the old ferry still docked at the pier just a few yards down. "She got us to the island before, she can do it again."

* * *

Winston had finished stocking up the supplies in the back of Ecto-1 when Janine excused herself to check in on Peter. The psychologist was still sleeping in bed, trying to fight off the headache and fever that was plaguing him. Approaching the bed Janine put her hand on his shoulder and gently roused him from his sleep.

"What's going on?" Peter muttered somewhat incoherently in drowsy state.

"Egon and Winston are back." Janine brushed the back of her hand against Peter's face and was glad to feel his temperature was much cooler. "They think they know how to find Ray."

Peter immediately sat up in his bed and stared past Janine toward the empty doorway of the bunk room. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because you're still sick."

"I'm fine." Peter insisted as he all but jumped off the bed and staggered to the door. His entire body was trembling from being drenched in the cold rain and general weakness for fighting off an impending sickness. "I'll be just fine. Ray needs us. ALL of us."

 ** _...to be continued..._  
**


	12. Taking Chances

Peter forced himself to walk at a calm pace and kept his head held high. Refusing to continue to sit idle while his friends worked tirelessly to find Ray and understand what had happened back at the museum Peter boldly marched down the stairs and made his way over to Egon's lab, just as Egon himself had exited the isolated room with a focused stare in his eyes.

"What've we got Spengz?" Peter asked trying to sound as casual as possible. "Where, oh where, has our little Ray gone?"

"Venkman?" Egon paused mid stride and looked over at his reclusive colleague with a somewhat concerned lilt in his voice. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. I woke up." Venkman blatantly stated. "How do we find Ray?"

Egon stared at Peter taking in his current appearance; pale complexion, glassy eyes, mild trembling. "You are ill."

"I am fine."

Knowing that Peter wasn't the type to back down or admit defeat Egon let the issue slide. For the moment. "Very well. Winston and I had discovered the cause for Ray's disappearance and may have found a way to locate him."

"How?" Peter asked as he leaned casually against the side of Ecto-1.

"We need to go back to the museum." Egon explained as he checked on the two prototypes packed in the rear of Ecto-1. Winston joined him shortly after as he set extra power supplies and sources in the rear compartment. "We need to recreate the past incident as closely as possible."

"Recreate?" Peter's brow arched while his face remained stoic. "You want to initiate round two of prototype pandemonium?"

"Yes." Egon replied firmly as he stood up straight and slammed the compartment door shut.

"Well alright then." Peter didn't ask anymore questions as he pulled open the rear passenger door of the car. "Let's go."

"No." Egon put his hand on the door and held it firmly to keep Peter from pulling it open fully. "You are staying here."

"No." Peter took a step back and turned as he walked over to his locker. "I'm going with you. I haven't been able to do anything to help Ray." Peter all but shouted as he crossed the room and retrieved his jumpsuit. "I'm not going to stay behind and miss his homecoming."

Winston discreetly opened the driver's side door of the car and silently observed the conversation. Egon looked over at Winston as if pleading for help in convincing Venkman to stay at the firehouse, while Janine walked down the stairs and watched at the bottom step. She gave Winston a nod of approval which was all he needed to know that it would be okay in the end.

Giving Egon a silent affirmation Winston sat down behind the steering wheel and turned on the engine. "We better get moving."

Knowing that he'd lost the argument Egon reluctantly allowed Peter to join. "Okay, you can come."

Peter smiled as he zipped up his jumpsuit and rejoined his colleagues. "I knew you couldn't stand to go anywhere without me."

* * *

Gathered in a pile of metal and wires the proton packs, extra power sources, extra slime and a dozen traps would serve as the only weapons to defend the mortal men against the immortal resurrected tyrant and sorcerer. The magnificent devices seemed pitiful only in comparison to the damnable strength of the spectral abomination that was Vigo the Carpathian.

The ferry ride was as unsettling as it was familiar to the wayward engineer. Ray remembered the night that his team, including 'The Rookie', had all ventured out to Shandor Island after ethereal powers caused the once sunken island to rise from its forgotten watery depths by the power of Gozer and his followers. The overwhelming darkness of the night, the fog, the choppy waters had left an aesthetically scarring impact on the engineer's psyche from that fateful venture onward. Ray hadn't even set foot on the island, and yet he still felt a sense of foreboding dread from the memories alone.

The island itself was bathed in shadow and remained an menacing black silhouette against the natural light of the surrounding day. Jagged rocks broke through the water creating a barrier of algae covered stone that shielded the island from incoming intruders.

"Where do we make land?" Ray asked as watched the island in the distance.

"Western bank." John replied as he steered the ferry accordingly. "We had to circle the island at least three times before we spotted an opening."

"How long were you on the island?"

"Not long." Hank answered as he sat down on a bench and folded his hands together nervously. Bowing his head he took in deep breaths to settle both his nerves and his stomach.

Ray sat down beside Hank empathetically. "Seasick?"

"Something like that."

"I get seasick a lot, too. Fortunately it didn't happen to me when my team and I went to the island about a year ago."

"How long were you on the island?"

"To be honest," Ray grinned sheepishly. "I never got on the island. I piloted our boat, Ecto-8, and the rest of team explored the island while kept the boat at a safe distance from the crumbling ruins of the island."

"Well, then you're in for a real treat." Hank attempted and failed to joke to lighten the mood. "Excuse me."

Ray watched as Hank rushed to the side of the boat and proceeded to throw up into the river churning below.

John called out to his friends from the interior of the ferry's cabin. "Get ready boys, were making port."

Hank leaned weakly against the side of the ferry with one hand over his mouth and his eyes shut. Ray walked over to his nauseated friend and patted his back. "You'll feel better once you're on stable ground."

"I hope so..."

The ferry struggled against the strong waves that threatened to capsize the boat beneath a devastating wake, but John expertly guided the lone vessel to the island and tied off the boat around the nearest rock. The darkness of the island and decrepit ruins of the castle were the only hazards that the trio would have to endure.

"Let's just hope the ferry doesn't get damaged by the waves." John stated as he turned off the engine. Leaping over the edge of the boat his boots made contact with the rocky beach of the haunted locale. "Welcome to Shandor Island."

* * *

Much the museum curator's chagrin the Ghostbusters had requested privacy at the scene of the bust for the third, and hopefully, final time. The trio gathered their equipment and proceeded to the isolated area. Repairs were an inevitability in the damaged corridor and had been sectioned off from the rest of the public.

"So what's the plan?" Peter asked as he watched Egon and Winston set up the first prototype and used the concentrated slime to create an ideal perimeter of controlled psychokinetic energy. "Mess up the place and blame Ray? Sounds like college all over again."

"No." Egon wasn't in the mood to joke around. "We need to open the portal and send a message through to contact Ray from whatever plane of existence he has become stranded within."

"How do we do that? Toss in a paper airplane or phone?"

Winston answered on Egon's behalf as he systematically covered the floor in slime. "We're going to send through a PKE meter with our recorded data and coordinates along with the second prototype. If Ray can find it he can activate it and find his way back."

"Oh. Sounds simple enough." Peter blinked a few times as his headache suddenly flared up in intensity. "How long do we wait for Ray to return?"

"Unknown." Egon nearly lamented as he finished setting up the scene. The room carried the distinct stench of ectoplasm and ozone, which only aggravated Peter's lingering headache further. "It could be a few seconds, it could be a few..."

"Days?"

"Years."

"Oh." Peter rubbed at the back of his neck and tense shoulder muscles impatiently. "And how do we know that the equipment will make it through the portal?"

"Ray's equipment disappeared along with him." Egon's reply was cold yet reassuring. "Ready?" Egon addressed Winston as he stepped back and prepared to fire up the first prototype.

"I'm ready." Winston stepped back and double-checked the second prototype for any potential failures. "It's all good to go."

"Opening the trap." Egon hovered his hand over the trigger and prepared to look away from the intense light.

Peter eyed the prototype in Winston's hands, eyed the distance between himself and the prototype on the floor and eyed how focused Egon was on the experiment at hand.

"Trap open." Egon pressed the button and Peter made his desperate move.

"Venkman!" Winston shouted as Peter snatched the prototype and PKE meter from his hands rushed with his eyes closed toward the opened prototype on the floor.

"Peter! Get back!" Egon called out desperately as he watched the stubborn psychologist rush into danger. "It's too risky!"

Without breaking stride or hesitating, Peter leapt into the painfully bright light of the opened prototype with the second prototype and meter clutched in his tight grip. Just as Ray had done two days prior, Peter suddenly disappeared from the museum in a bright flash of light and into the infinitesimal unknown.

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	13. All the Familiar Places

From the shoreline of the ancient island the bright torch of the Statue of Liberty seemed like nothing more than a lightning bug against the eternal night sky. She stood tall, proud and beautiful. A true reminder of the human spirit, of strength, of kindness and of courage. On that night she would lend her gifts to the Ghostbusters even if it was only with her distant presence from the shadows of the abandoned Ellis Island.

Her majesty reached over the planes of two worlds as a symbol of triumph and kindred souls banding together on a fateful night.

The entirety of Shandor Island itself was cold, very still and covered in a thick silence matched only by the dark fog that blanketed the entire island. The ruins of the semi collapsed castle stood as a haunting reminder of the devastation that was once and could be again. High above the ruins a small gathering of crows circled ominously overhead, calling out a somber cry of malaise to the gathered trio below.

"Shandor Island." Ray exhaled in a heavy breath that escaped in a wisping cloud that blended seamlessly with the surrounding fog. "I never thought I'd have the chance to set foot on this island after it sank into the depth of the river for the second time. Now that I'm here I wish I wasn't."

"I know the feeling, pal." John's eyes were glued on the decrepit remains of the fallen castle. The stone tomb that had ended the lives of his friends and served only as a heartless reminder of the carnage left in the wake of Vigo's return. "Let's find that freak, hose him with slime and call it a day."

"Sounds good to me." Ray powered up the slime-blower on his back. "And when we get back to the firehouse I'll tweak the slime-blower and make it a hybrid pack that can double as a proton pack for your convenience."

"Thanks, we appreciate it. Hank?" John looked briefly over his shoulder as his partner slowly made his way onto the shore and stood with the other Ghostbusters. "You up for this?"

"Yeah." Hank wiped his mouth with his sleeve and powered up his proton pack. "I'm ready. I want to do this."

"Well then," John also powered up his own proton pack and took a step forward. "let's get moving."

The illumination of the lights on the two proton packs and the slime-blower cast a mixture of orange and green lights that struggled to penetrate the thick fog and the endless shadows that swam over the island interior. Ray looked down at the ground to watch his footing in the poor lighting only to see five sets of boot prints walking along the same sandy path into the castle, but only one set of boot prints walking out.

John's boot prints.

Ray swallowed nervously as he followed John with Hank right behind him. "This way leads into the castle?"

"Yeah." John confirmed in a quiet voice. "Large pieces of stone that fell from the castle will partially obscure our path, but we can climb over it pretty easily."

"And how far into the castle do we need to go to find Vigo?"

"If Vigo is still in the heart of the castle," John paused momentarily and gave the environment a cautionary glance. "it'll take a few minutes to traverse the broken stairs and collapsed floors."

Hank instinctively used a PKE meter to scan the area and isolate the strongest signatures. "Whoa, whoa." Hank honed in on a particularly powerful energy trace and pointed in its direction. "There is a very strong reading coming from a deep chamber inside the castle. I think we found Vigo's stronghold."

"Anything around us?" John asked as he aimed his thrower into the fog.

"Not yet. I'll let you know if something gets close to our-" A second strong blip flashed on the meter's display but dissipated as quickly as it appeared. "That was strange."

"What?" Ray curiously leaned to look at the meter.

"Something popped up on the meter then faded. The thing is, it wasn't even here on the island."

"Must be a very powerful energy surge if the meter caught it."

"Maybe Vigo is trying to open a portal." Hank suggested timidly. "We better move it before we lose our window of opportunity."

"Right." John took the lead and hastened his pace. "Come on, I know how to get inside. Let's save the world!"

* * *

The throbbing of Peter's headache was on par with the beating of his own heart, which was at the moment pounding painfully in his chest. Feeling cold, alone and like a fool Peter struggled to move as his senses returned along with his consciousness. The cold floor beneath his back and the cold, residual slime that clung to the front of his jumpsuit made him feel as though he were stranded in the arctic.

Opening his eyes Peter found himself staring at a dark ceiling that had been neglected for years.

"Where... am I?" Peter asked himself as he slowly moved his hands along the floor and then over his own body. "I'm in one piece. Which is good."

Lifting his head Peter's eyes focused on the prototype and PKE meter that he had snatched from Winston before leaping into the portal.

"I hope that didn't break..." Whimpering and moving slowly he managed to pushed himself up into a sitting position on the floor. Curling his legs beneath himself he stared at the equipment while he rubbed his hands up and down over his arms in an attempt to warm himself. "I hope _I_ didn't break."

Darting his gaze about the room Peter tried to assess his current location while also looking for any sign of Ray.

"Am I in the art museum?" The room suddenly became familiar. "I don't see Spengz or Zed, so I must've ended up in the same place as Ray. But where IS Ray?"

Awkwardly Peter forced himself to get up and gather the equipment from the ground.

"If I were Ray, where would I go?" Peter thought out loud as he stood up on his shaking legs and walked slowly, clumsily toward the opened corridor of the museum.

The abandoned, neglected and forgotten building reminded Peter of what it was like to walk through a cemetery. All signs of human life was replaced y stone relics and faded names engraved on aged plaques or cracked marble columns. The overhead lights were without power leaving Peter in darkness, using only the thin rays of natural light that peered through the opaque, dirty skylights or through the cracked walls, cracked ceilings and partially warped doorways.

Pushing open the squeaky, rusty doors of the museum Peter set foot outside and onto the front steps as he peered out at the alternate New York City.

"Ray?" Peter called out fruitlessly. "You better be here man."

Looking out at the uncharacteristically quiet streets and sidewalks he sighed pondering the most logical place he'd find Ray.

"Firehouse."

* * *

Egon and Winston scanned the entirety of the corridor of the museum for any traces of Peter or Ray. The two meters failed to register a single source of either man's biorhythms.

"Damn it Peter," Egon swore under his breath as he impatiently switched between various frequency settings to scan and re-scan the room. "that was incredibly foolish."

"Man, I got nothing!" Winston declared bitterly as he finished his sweep of the room. "It's like they were never here."

"I'm getting a similar reading." Egon confirmed as he stopped changing the frequencies and finally turned off the meter. "There is nothing more we can do from here."

"So what _do_ we do?"

"We go back to the firehouse." Egon decided grudgingly. "From there we can keep the prototype powered up indefinitely."

"All we can do is wait and keep our fingers cross that Ray and Peter can find their way back. Great. I love sitting aside and feeling useless."

"As do I." Egon admitted in a defeated tone seldom spoken. "But in this moment we have no other options."

* * *

John, Ray and Hank ventured deeper and deeper into the dilapidated castle ruins. The meter in Hank's hand screeched with life as more ghosts of increasing strength encroached upon the wandering trio's location.

"We're not alone." Hank wisely cautioned as he turned off the meter and clipped it back to his belt. "Keep your eyes open."

A wicked cackle from the shadows caused the three men to turn their focus to the source of the sound.

"Don't fall for it." Ray cautioned as he turned around and pressed his back up toward John and Hank's backs. "They're trying to distract us."

"What's the play?" Hank asked as he aimed his thrower into the nothingness of the castle shadows.

John answered firmly as he slowly resumed walking forward. "Focus on Vigo. Ray's right, his little minions are just here as a distraction."

"How do you know for sure?"

"If Vigo's minions were any real threat to us they would've left the island weeks ago and started tearing through the city. Something is keeping them out here and I have a feeling it's the barricades on the city limits creating a type of dampening field."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Hank agreed as his shoulders relaxed slightly. "They all had plenty of opportunities to come after us but they didn't."

Ray had an interesting thought. "Maybe the ghosts are so weak because Vigo is using them as a source of energy? It can't be easy for him to maintain full control of the museum curator's body for a prolong period of time."

"Yeah..." A sly grin greased John's face as a brilliant idea popped in his head. "If we remove the battery then the toy powers down. Let's catch us some ghosts!"

Ray and Hank shared the same amused grin as John. Tossing down a few traps that had been clipped to their belts the duo set up a perimeter. Ray took a knee while John and Hank proceeded to unleash their proton streams into the darkness in an attempt to catch and flush out any hiding ghosts. Using Ray as their eyes the trio worked together wonderfully as a single team that located, snagged and captured the fleeing spirits in a mass hunt.

"Let's get three to a trap!" John shouted as he and Hank united their two streams, each holding a ghost, and went after a third. "Don't waste the traps!"

"You got 'em!" Ray cheered as he watched the masterful display of his colleagues in action. "I saw two more slip down the Western corridor!"

"Not for long!" Hank declared as the three ghosts were lowered down to the trap and sealed inside. "They're mine!"

* * *

Peter stumbled slowly through the opened sidewalks and vacated streets to the firehouse, secretly hoping that the firehouse was still where it was supposed to be and functioning as it should be. Like Ray had done so before him Peter just knew that this version of New York City wasn't the same as his own, he knew that this world itself wasn't his own.

"Finally..." Peter made onto the correct block and saw the famous 'no ghost' logo hanging off the front of the building. It wasn't lit and looked dirty, but it was still there and recognizable. "It's still there."

Pushing open the large door of the firehouse and peered inside. "Hello?"

No answer. His greeting echoed hollowly throughout the old brick building, unheard by any living soul.

"Ray? Anybody?" Peter stepped inside the garage and noticed there was no vehicle. "Is he seriously out on a call? He better put in for overtime."

Flinching in pain Peter put a hand to his aching head and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me there's a bottle of aspirin somewhere in here."

Setting the prototype and meter down on the tool bench in the garage Peter walked up the stairs solely on instinct in search of the much needed medication. As he scoured through the medicine cabinet in the washroom he located a bottle and greedily popped off the top and dropped two pills into his hand.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU."

Tilting his head back he tossed the two pills in his mouth, swallowed, then cupped his hand under the tap in the sink and gulped down a handful of water.

A static filled voice suddenly buzzed through the air. " _Can you hear me_? _Hello_? _Over_."

"Hello?" Peter traced the source of the sound back to the ground floor. Slipping down the fire pole in the corner Peter located the voice in the small office. "A radio? How convenient."

Picking up the microphone and slipping on the headphones Peter responded to the call. "I hear you. Over."

" _Who is this_? _Over_." The voice was genuinely confused as the called didn't recognize Peter at all.

"A friend." Peter smirked. "My name is Peter. How can I help you? Over."

" _This is Peck. Where is John_? _How do you know him_? _Over_."

"Peck?!" Peter nearly spat reflexively but composed himself. "I'm a friend. Over." He lied.

" _Friend of John, Hank or Ray_? _Over_."

"Ray!" Peter excitedly answered. "You know Ray?! Over."

" _I do, but listen, I need you to relay a message_." Peck replied firmly. " _It's very important that they know what we've recently detected on Shandor Island. Over._ "

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	14. Stepping Into Darkness

From the depths of the ruined castle the trio of Ghostbusters captured the last of the ghosts who had lent their own energy to feed power to Vigo. Dozens upon dozens of ghosts had been isolated and snagged by the proton streams. As each ghost was gathered and bound in numbers of at least three into the numerous traps wisely gathered by Hank and Ray, the overall power surging throughout the ruins began to diminish.

"Last one!" Hank called out as he dragged the struggling specter from the shadows and toward the final vacant trap resting beside Ray. "Make way!"

"Bring it over!" John encouraged as he wrangled two ghosts in his own proton stream. "Let's turn this duo into a trio!"

Ray stepped back and watched proudly as his two allies easily ensnared the three ghosts into a single stream and lowered them into the final trap. As the writhing, angry ghosts were placed just inches above the top of the trap Ray stepped down on the trigger and watched as the final ghosts were sealed away inside the small, portable prison.

"Got 'em!" Ray stomped down on the trigger and watched as the doors slammed shut. Picking up the smoking trap by the cable he held it out proudly for his friends to admire. "This is easily the biggest ghost haul I've ever been apart of."

"I have to admit," John nudged a trap by his foot with the edge of his boot. "this is pretty impressive. I don't think we've snagged so many so quickly."

Hank sheathed his thrower before proudly boasting the official number. "Thirty-three ghosts. Three Ghostbusters. Seems fitting, doesn't it?"

"I love symbolism." Ray agreed happily and he motioned to the PKE meter clipped to Hank's belt. "If this didn't drain Vigo of his power then this," he reached back with one hand and patted the slime-blower on his back. "will have to do."

John smiled approvingly as Hank took a fresh scan of the castle.

"We just made a nice little dent." Hank confirmed as he recorded the data and replaced the meter to his belt. "The reading is now at one-fourth of its original power level. We may just have the advantage now."

John stood up a little straighter with pride at his colleague's positive disposition. "That's all I needed to hear." Pushing the traps aside with his boot he turned and led the way down the lengthy stone corridor. "Let's keep moving, we'll gather the traps on the way out."

"It's time to finish this." Hank decided as he followed closely behind John.

Ray didn't have anything to say about the situation. Knowing that both John and Hank had a heavy burden to bear with the deaths of their friends still weighing heavily on their minds and hearts, all he could do was venture forward and support his allies during their darkest hour.

"Keep low." John cautioned as he crouched down and pressed his hand against the stone surface of the corridor. "The ceiling has dropped down from the collapse, watch your head."

The glows of the proton packs and slime-blower cast eerie shadows along the surface of the dark corridor as the three Ghostbusters neared the heart of the castle and Vigo's stronghold.

Hank began to tremble as the haunting memory of being nearly crushed to death, almost being buried alive made his heart race.

Ray could see Hank was fighting to keep moving forward and put his hand on Hank's shoulder. "How much further John?"

"A few yards." John confirmed somberly. Walking through the corridor four times, each time carrying the body of a fallen colleague, had burned the route permanently into John's own memory. "On the other side we'll be in a large courtyard and beyond that we'll find Vigo."

Hank managed to calm his nerves by breathing deeply and slowly. His training as a police officer was proving invaluable during the nerve wracking endeavor.

Light began to emerge from the end of the corridor. Hundreds of red candles were burning throughout the perimeter of the expansive courtyard that once played host to a losing confrontation between the Ghostbusters and Vigo. Unfortunately it was the Ghostbusters who had lost the battle, and their lives.

"Here." John exited the corridor and tentatively set foot on the crater that was once a stone floor of the castle courtyard. Jagged rocks, charred walls and bloodied sand served as the macabre reminder of the failed battle. "We're almost there." John swallowed his grief as he looked upward toward the open sky to avoid looking at the dried blood of the fallen. "Vigo is waiting. I'll scout ahead."

Hank paused and stared with a blankness reserved only for the dead as took in the sight of the former battleground.

Ray stood at Hank's side and watched John crossed the courtyard and climbed up a short bastion to reach the large metal door waiting on the other side.

"This is where is all happened, isn't it?" Ray dared to ask despite already knowing the answer.

"Yeah." Hank motioned to a large pile of massive broken stones. "I was buried over there. I don't know how John found the strength to move those rocks and dig me out, but I'm glad he did."

"It's amazing what strength you can muster when someone you really care about needs you." Ray reminded Hank thoughtfully. "I remember when Vigo almost overtook my mind and my team didn't hesitate to react."

"Vigo possessed you?" Hank inquired curiously. "For how long?"

"Only a few seconds. The positively charged slime forced him out of my mind before he could do any permanent damage. I'm grateful for their quick thinking, they really saved my life that night."

"Glad to see you pulled through." Hank stared at the blood stains and surrounding piles of shattered stone. "Wish my friends were as lucky as you."

John turned to see Hank and Ray lagging behind. "Yo!" He shouted out and waved the two men over. "Don't split up, it's too dangerous."

"He's right." Hank boldly took a step forward and dared to cross the every ground that he had nearly died on. "We can't let Vigo mess with our minds."

Ray gave Hank a small grin of approval and pride as he watched his courageous friend overcome his lingering doubts and fear to finish the mission and stop Vigo from destroying the city, if not the entire world.

Hank marched up the nearby staircase with Ray following his footsteps. Joining John, who stood dauntlessly before the massive metal door. The door appeared medieval in design, large double doors that rounded off at the top. Cold, blood red metal, dotted with rust and laced with sharp spikes provided an appropriate gateway for the resurrected tyrant's stronghold.

"Once we step inside we can't leave until Vigo has been destroyed." John urged in a valiant tone of assurance. "Everyone is depending on us. Are you ready?"

Hank locked his eyes on the door and unsheathed his thrower. Powering the energy to its maximum level he stared angrily at the door, eager to open fire on the vengful demigod. "Let's rid the world of this freak; let's do it for Joel, for Rachel, for Mason and for ourselves."

Ray turned on the slime-blower and held the massive hose with both hands. "It's time to knock this wanna-be King off his throne."

John nodded and turned his attention to the door. Bracing himself firmly he hefted one strong kick on the center of where the two doors met and forced the metal doorway to burst open in an impressive display of strength.

Inside Vigo's dark chamber a circle of red candles burning with black flames outlined a massive altar that held a single throne composed of aged skulls and bones. Behind the throne, hanging against the stone wall was the very painting that had once housed the spirit of Vigo as he remained in patient silence, waiting inside the storage room of the art museum for an opportunity to return.

Sitting in the throne was the body of the museum curator of whom Vigo was using as his vessel. The figure seemed to be sleeping. His head was bowed down toward his chest, completely motionless.

"Vigo, tonight your reign comes to an end!" John challenged as he fearlessly stepped into the center of the chamber. "You have to the count of three to return to your painting or be destroyed." Aiming his thrower John lowered his voice into a menacing growl. "Choose wisely."

Hank stood at John's side and aimed his thrower accordingly. "Personally I choose the latter, if you won't decide then we'll decide for you." Moving in unison Hank and John stepped apart to surround the throne on either side. "Please let us decide for you."

Ray stood his ground near the middle just inside the door. Struggling to peer through the darkness Ray was able to just barely make out the features of the curator who had been possessed by Vigo.

"It _is_ you." Ray entered the room and aimed the hose of the slime-blower at the curator and upped the strength of the blower to ensure he didn't harm the body, only the unwanted spirit hiding within. "Hey, can you hear me? Dr. Janosz Poha?"

 ** _...to be continued..._  
**


	15. Fighting For the Light

Upon hearing the name called out Janosz slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes to look at the encroaching Ghostbusters. The helpless curator's body was emaciated and appeared to be as weak as his mind. Thin, pale, sickly in movement and with eyes glazed over with a red glow behind the lifeless gaze only emphasized the horrific power that stemmed from Vigo's diabolical influence.

John and Hank had never known the curator's name until that moment, and having heard Ray call it out so surely, found themselves stunned by the familiarity their new ally shared with their newly identified foe.

"'Yan-osh'?" John repeated the unusual name with heavy confusion. "Who or what is a yan-osh?"

"Him." Ray pointed at the physically weakened curator with the hose of the slime-blower. "That's Dr. Janosz Poha. At least that's how I know him in _my_ world."

Hank kept his thrower aimed, this time at Janosz. "Well, whoever he once was doesn't matter now if he's Vigo's puppet. What do we do Ray?"

"Simple." Ray aimed the hose of his slime-blower at Janosz and planted his feet. "Cut the strings and the puppet falls."

John aimed his thrower at the painting of Vigo behind Janosz approvingly. "And if we take out the puppeteer then the curtain falls."

"Show's over." Hank decided as he too aimed his thrower in anticipation of battle. "Call it Ray."

At those bold words Janosz stood up on shaking legs from the throne with his right arm outstretched and his hand opened outward. Taking a single step forward the booming deep voice of Vigo sounded off from Janosz's frail body. **"I am Vigo. Ruler of this world. What pitiful mortal half-men dare to challenge my power?"**

" _These_ pitiful mortal men." John answered defiantly as he stood his ground. "The Ghostbusters."

Janosz smiled wickedly as Vigo's presence within recognized the trio of men and the symbol they carried. **"You have already fallen before me."** He taunted heartlessly referencing the three Ghostbusters who perished at Vigo's hand weeks prior. **"Be grateful as you shall soon rejoin your allies."**

"Not tonight." John snarled as he prepared to open fire.

"Wait!" Ray cautioned as he aimed the proton thrower at Janosz. "If you fire at Janosz you'll hurt the curator and NOT Vigo. If you destroy the painting then we can't send Vigo back, either."

"So how do we separate the immortal tyrant from the mortal man?"

"Like this!" Ray opened fire and doused Janosz's entire body in a coating of positively thick pink slime.

 **"GAH!"** Vigo cried out in immense discomfort and shock at the sudden onslaught of positive energy that easily neutralized his natural negative energy.

"Get ready!" Ray shouted as he stepped toward Janosz and watched as the negatively charged aura of Vigo struggled and failed to retain control over Janosz's body. "As soon as Vigo is exposed FIRE."

Roaring angrily Vigo left Janosz's body and retreated from the slime by floating up and away from the the fallen human vessel. The horrifically detailed malice depicted in the portrait was displayed prominently in full across Vigo's enraged face. Standing tall and covered in leather armor, the ghostly tyrant loomed menacingly over the trio as he hovered a few inches above the ground.

"NOW." John called out as he and Hank opened fire in synchronized team work.

While the dual proton streams ensnared Vigo in twin lassos Ray turned off his slime-blower and knelt down beside Janosz. The curator had fallen flat onto his back with his arms and legs splayed. He was barely breathing and unconscious.

Pressing his fingers to the side of Janosz's neck Ray held his own breath as he felt Janosz's already weak pulse slow. "Damn it... We're too late."

"...No." Janosz somehow found his voice and spoke to Ray. "You am right on time." The odd accent and phonetic pattern Ray had known from his world remained the same on this one. "Vigo is too strong. He is to be using the painting as a... haven."

"Destroy the painting." Ray understood what Janosz was telling him. "Don't worry, we'll stop him."

"Thanks to you..." Janosz whispered. "I am... free again."

As Janosz's pulse slowed even further and finally stopped Ray gently took Janosz's hands and folded them over the recently deceased man's chest. "I'm sorry Janosz, I know you were just a pawn in Vigo's scheme. We tried to help you, but it wasn't enough. But we will stop him. I promise."

Still empowered by the ghosts that fueled his ethereal energy Vigo mustered the strength to reverse the flow of the proton streams and send them back toward John and Hank, stunning the two Ghostbusters with their own equipment.

"John! Hank!" Ray shouted as he watched his allies fly backward and slam down hard on the ground. "Are you okay?!"

John tried to move his hands but his limbs didn't respond. "No... I can't move."

Hank was paralyzed as well. "Me neither. Ray... What do we do?"

Turning abruptly Vigo turned his attention to Ray and lifted a hand as if he were trying to reach him. **"Now we will become one."**

Thinking quickly Ray took a handful of the slime that had saved Janosz and covered his body in the pink protective layer by smearing it over his face, his hair, his chest and his abdomen . The positive energy was too potent for Vigo to overcome, and the vile tyrant failed to possess Ray's mind.

"Ha!" Ray turned the hose on his allies and started to drench them as well. "Can't take us down _that_ easily!"

Hank was the first to respond to the pink slime as he was the closest to Ray. As the positive energy neutralized Vigo's negative energy Hank was able to slowly sit up and regain control over his formerly paralyzed body. "I can move!"

Before the slime could reach John's body, however, the slime-blower sputtered and stopped midstream. The slime-blower had overheated and shut itself off.

"John!" Ray reacted quickly and rushed over to his downed friend protectively. "Hank, you need to hold Vigo at bay until I can fix the slime-blower!"

"Got it!" Hank swiftly powered up his proton pack for the second time and aimed at Vigo. Aiming proudly he fearlessly squared off against the demented spectral anomaly. "Payback!"

Vigo was still too strong to be held captive by the single snaking proton stream, but not strong enough to fully escape the beam itself. Writhing in rage and pain Vigo channeled all of his lingering power to the surface and created a red barrier from his own ethereal aura that shielded him from direct harm. The incredible energy being emitted by Vigo was enough to cause the entire chamber to begin rumbling and shaking with physical instability.

John looked up at the high ceiling as a massive crack split the dark stone and wound itself across the surface in an ever widening chasm. Dust, bits of stone and mold fell from the ceiling like a gentle snow flurry that covered himself and Ray in a fine layer of powder.

"Watch it guys," John cautioned as his colleague repaired the slime-blower at his side. Leaking slime collected between John and Ray and lessened the paralysis that kept John immobilized on the floor. "the ceiling is going to come down."

"Just a few more seconds..." Ray muttered as he checked the power levels and temperature gauge on the pack.

Hank was losing the fight against Vigo but wasn't giving up. "Could use a hand here!"

"Ray!" John motioned weakly to the proton pack on his back. "Help Hank, when the slime-blower is ready to go I'll call you."

"Right..." Ray unclipped the straps from around John's waist and slipped the harness from his shoulders. "We got this!"

Hank stepped to the side as Ray joined him and wrangled Vigo with the much needed second proton stream. "Now what we have him, what do we do with him?"

"We need to-"

Vigo's eyes glowed an intense red and he growled with abject hatred as he stared past the two attacking Ghostbusters who had him bound in the twin proton streams. Focusing in on John, the only Ghostbuster who couldn't defend himself, Vigo tried to possess John's mind.

"No!" John defied as he turned his gaze away from Vigo and stared at the temperature gauge on the slime-blower. The needle drifted from the ominous red on the display and back into the safety of the blue zone. "You're not going to get me!"

Breaking free of the lingering paralysis John switched on the slime-blower and let the excess slime cover his hands and arms to completely free himself of the negative energy that had kept him subdued. The slime dripped everywhere and covered the front of his jumpsuit which was enough to keep Vigo's influence at bay.

"Come on!" Hank encouraged as John got to his feet and slipped the slime-blower onto his back. "Let's finish this!"

"You're not going to hurt any more of my friends!" John declared firmly as he opened fire on Vigo. The pink slime completely covered Vigo and sapped what was left of his frightening strength.

The three men stepped in unison closer to Vigo, using the proton streams and slime to push him back toward the painting that hung against the wall behind the throne. In a desperate bid to escape the power of the Ghostbusters equipment Vigo retreated into the painting, roaring in disgust and rage.

While the streams kept Vigo contained within the painting the slime created a barrier on the outside of the painting which sealed Vigo inside. The chaos of the battle was shaking the entire castle to its core and Vigo was going to use it to his advantage.

"Careful boys," John's eyes returned to the ceiling as the dusty snowfall intensified from the mounting damage overhead. "we need to-"

Before John could finish his statement Vigo unleashed a powerful wave of energy through the frame of the painting that shook the entire castle and destabilized the ceiling, the walls and even the floor. Ray fell forward slightly, catching himself with his hands as he kneeled on the ground in confusion. Hank had stumbled on his feet but regained his balance and kept Vigo lassoed under his proton stream.

The ceiling above collapsed. A massive portion of uneven stone plummeted from the ceiling and came crashing down on the ground in a bone shattering speed.

"Watch out!" John shouted as he forced his body to move, using the puddle of pink slime that collected under his boots to find an inner strength and push Ray out of harm's way.

Before Ray had a chance to react he felt himself being pushed forcefully backward and away from John. While Ray had been pushed clear of the falling debris John wasn't so fortunate.

"JOHN!?" Roy and Hank called out in absolute shock as they watched a dust cloud rise up from the ground where the ceiling had dropped, burying John underneath.

Vigo let out a deep sinister laugh of self aggrandizing pleasure as the fourth Ghostbuster to cross his path had fallen in battle.

Clenching his teeth Ray scrambled to his feet with every intent to destroy Vigo burning inside his mind and his heart.

Ray and Hank maximized the power of their proton packs and closed in on the Vigo. The power of the streams pushed Vigo deeper and deeper inside the painting while the pink slime that covered the surface kept him from escaping.

"Cross the streams!" Ray shouted as he and Hank stood just inches from the painting. "NOW."

Hank followed Ray's command and crossed his stream over onto Ray's stream against the painting. Just as the two streams were about to meet Vigo's hands broke through the surface of the painting with great pain as the pink slime dripped from his undead fingers that had wrapped around Ray and Hank's throats. Ray dropped his thrower and the pack, which hadn't been properly fastened, fell from his shoulders onto the ground.

 **"Begone, you pathetic mortals."**

"Can't... move!" Hank kept one hand on the thrower and the other wrapped around Vigo's wrist. Despite his best efforts the single proton stream wasn't enough to quell Vigo's power. "Need... help!"

Ray's eyes lit up as one last idea popped into his head. Reaching down toward his right boot he retrieved the proton pistol that Hank had initially left back in the storage room of the firehouse.

Pulling back the hammer Ray lifted the pistol and aimed it between Vigo's eyes. "Sometimes one shot... is all you need!"

"Do it!" Hank coughed as Vigo tried to strangle the life from his body.

Squeezing the trigger the single proton bullet pierced through the painting with a loud 'bang' and lodged itself perfectly in the middle of Vigo's forehead, causing the wicked fiend to lose his grip on Hank and Ray's throats.

"Ray! Now!" Hank encouraged as he took a cautionary step back but kept his stream wrapped around Vigo within the painting.

Retrieving his dropped pack in favor over the spent pistol Ray resumed firing at the hell-bound monster. "Cross the streams, do it!"

Once more Ray and Hank had their two streams unite as one within the painting and finally contain all of Vigo's dark essence. The combined strength was enough to disrupt the negative energy that allowed Vigo reside inside the painting and cause it to explode in a mass of fire and ethereal power.

The shaking of the castle ceased and the air became lighter. The candles that had burned throughout the battle had flickered, causing the black flame to reignite as a nature yellow flame which brightened the room considerably.

The battle was over. However, only two of the three Ghostbusters stood victorious.

Switching off their packs Hank and Ray turned to look at the pile of stone debris that lay atop of John's unseen body. The dust cloud had wisped away to nothingness leaving the stone pile to sit idle in the bright candlelight of the naturally dark chamber.

Ray's heart sank at the sight and he felt a little piece of himself die in that room in that very moment. He already knew John's fate.

Somehow, he just knew...

"John?" Hank whispered as he approached the pile of stone and began sifting through the carnage. The rocks fell away heavily but there was no sign of movement from beneath the pile. "John? Answer me! Please!"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	16. The Aftermath

Hank tore into the pile of stone and dust as he searched for John in a nearly desperate state of mind. John had saved Ray from the collapsing ceiling only to be caught in the collapse himself. Horrific visions of Hank's own near death at the hands of Vigo trying burying him alive during their first encounter fueled his his resolve to continue to dig and search for one of the best friends he had ever had, as well as one of the most honorable men he had ever met.

Ray didn't hesitate to act. Working at Hank's side to two men dug through the stones, tossing aside the smaller ones, pushing over the larger ones and lifting together to heft aside the largest of the stone debris.

"Come on, come on!" Hank pleaded openly to whatever holy deity could be listening from above. "Where is he?"

As Ray moved aside a large stone he found John's gloved hand resting on the ground. "Hank..." Ray gently lifted John's hand up from the ground, removed the black glove and felt for a radial pulse. "He's weak. Thready pulse."

"No way, not like this!" Hank dug faster as he followed John's hand to his arm, to his shoulder, to his chest, to his neck and finally to his face. Ray cleared away the rocks as Hank uncovered their downed friend and forced himself to smile at John's bloodied face. "John! There you are man..."

John's eyes were swollen, one more so than the other. A trail of blood rolled from his nose down the side of his face, his bottom lip was swollen and bloody as well. Multiple cuts marred his face and forehead, a deep laceration bled heavily and into his messy hair. His entire face was pale save for the purple bruises and the only sign of life came from the weak pulse beneath Ray's fingertips.

Ray squeezed John's hand, mindful of the broken index and middle fingers, and held tight just enough to get his attention without hurting him. "Found you."

Opening his 'good' eye John's dark brown irises flooded with emotion as he looked up at Hank and Ray who were leaning over him. "Did we..." John coughed a little which caused the blood on his lip to spatter like bird shot. "Did we stop him?"

"Yeah man." Hank nodded and put his hand on John's shoulder. "We got him. Vigo is gone, forever."

"Good." John let out a deep pained breath and closed his eyes. "That's good."

"Just hold on, we'll get you out of here." Hank urged as he resumed unburying his partner. "Don't quit on us."

John flashed Hank a cheesy grin. "I'm not the quittin' type, remember? But... I do have my limits."

"No, don't talk like that!" Hank began moving faster and faster to remove the stones that pinned John down. With each stone moved more of the damage became visible which only made Ray's heart sink even deeper. "Not now. We just won the battle, we did it. Life can return to normal now!"

"Normal..." John quipped as his face paled a shade whiter. "Normal for who?"

Ray forced himself to keep his emotions in check. Death was part of the job but that didn't mean Ray couldn't feel any form of empathy or sympathy to the wayward spirits he had encountered. But being present in the face of death itself, to see someone who was so courageous and selfless continue to joke just to spare his best friend the pain of loss was one of the most admirable final moments that would be his honor to witness.

"John," Ray smiled warmly yet sadly at his dying friend. "thank you for saving my life. And for trusting me."

"You know Ray..." John's eyes opened slightly revealing his brown irises once more, though now a glassy sheen overtook them. "I've been thinking... Why do you look so... familiar to me. And I think I... figured it out."

"What's that?"

"You and me..." John's grin became sincere. "we were... friends. Some time, some place we were... best friends. Glad I found you..."

Ray couldn't hold it back any longer and a lone tear began rolling down his face. "I'm sorry John. I'm so, so sorry!"

"For what?" He coughed again but never lost his smile. "I pushed you... out of the way. You didn't... push me into... harm's way."

"It still should've been-"

"No." John's voice was strong yet remained kind. "Don't be... sorry. Like you... told Hank. Don't sit and... dwell on the... past. What's done is... done."

Hank finished unburying John's body and was now checking his legs for any signs of breaks. "You heard us talking earlier?"

"Yeah," he laughed and wheezed as his breathing became slightly labored. "you two aren't... as quiet... as you think."

"John," Hank bowed his head in grief as he finished checking his friend's legs and was now checking his abdomen and chest for injures. "You're left fibula and left femur are both broken. Your hip is fractured on the left," his hands carefully but meticulously ran over John's abdomen. "you're... bleeding internally. I can also feel ribs shifting with each breath. I... I can't do anything to help you."

Hank looked to Ray who shook his head in defeat knowing that he couldn't do anything to help John either.

"Hank, it's okay." Weakly he reached his other hand, ignoring the burning pain of the broken humerus in the same arm, and grabbed onto Hank's hand as a sign of trust and understanding. "Just... Just get me... out of... the castle. I want... I want to see the city... one last... time."

"You got it partner." Hank bent down with tears welling in his eyes and put his arm under John's back and shoulders. With precise control he sat John up into a sitting position and wrapped his arm around his neck. "This time, I'll lead."

Ray aided Hank in getting John up from the ground by supporting most of John's weight with his arms. Mindful of the internal injuries John was suffering Hank managed to lift his partner up and over his shoulder into a seamless fireman's carry.

"Let's get you back to the city." Hank decided as he gave Ray a look of uncertainty. "You deserve it."

Ray discreetly gathered the mangled remains of the slime-blower and held the damaged container in his hands. Against the sheen of the metallic surface Ray caught a glimpse of his own reflection and turned away in disgust, feeling like a failure and an intruder who sent the parallel world into turmoil. "A lot of good you did."

Dropping the equipment to the ground he shut his eyes and let out a single mournful gasp as he prepared to say goodbye to his newly acquainted friend.

Before leaving the chamber Ray looked back at the painting that once held Vigo. The canvas had been destroyed by the blast leaving only smoldering, charred bits of fabric clinging to the tarnished frame. There was no secondary painting beneath, no symbol of triumph of man over demigod this time. Only chaos and ruin.

Laying just on the other side of the painting was the still body of Janosz. The pink slime had congealed over his body and absolutely covered him in the thick substance.

"Come on." Ray approached the frail, fallen man and hoisted him over his shoulder. Pink slime dripped from his shoulders uncomfortably in the process, but Ray didn't flinch. "No one is getting left behind tonight."

The trek through the ruins of the castle was full of somber silence. The multiple blinking traps that housed Vigo's ghost cohorts littered the ground and cast eerie shadows over the lonely stone walls. Overhead the circling crows called out in a haunting chorus as if they somehow knew of the aftermath of the battle that had rocked the castle and the island to near ruin.

Ray caught up to Hank who, despite the heavy load of John's limp body and a proton pack on his back, was walking at a very brisk pace in an attempt to exit the castle as quickly as possible.

A sudden quake that emanated from the center of the island caused Hank and Ray to stop in their tracks and give one another uncertain glances.

"You felt that, right?" Hank asked as he looked around the corridor suspiciously.

"Yeah. I felt like... an earthquake."

"You don't think-" A second quake caused the entire castle to shudder violently and the crows circling overhead to depart in a mass flock toward the safety of the city.

"Yes. I do." Ray watched as dust crept through every crack and imperfection in the ceiling and the walls. "This island is going to sink."

John panted weakly as his breathing became much more labored; sounding painful and congested. "Run."

Without another word Hank and Ray began rushing through the corridors of the crumbling castle, hoping to flee the ruins of the castle and make it back to the ferry before it was too late to escape. Stepping quickly through the corridors, the courtyard and onto the shore of the trembling island the two Ghostbusters looked out at the beach and watched as the ferry; their only escape, was battered mercilessly against the jagged rocks that jutted upward from the depths of the dark river.

"Shit!" Hank stood at the shoreline and watched helplessly as the ferry slowly but surely began to sink beneath the choppy waves. "How're we going to get out of here now?"

Ray stood silently beside Hank and looked out longingly across the river to the partially visibly Statue of Liberty. It seemed that the symbol of triumph would be the final beautiful sight Ray would behold before sinking to his doom with the rest of the island.

"Hank..." John's ever weakening voice sounded off from Hank's shoulder. "Everything will... be okay..."

Ray took in a deep breath and tried to convince himself that John was right, that everything would be okay, that somehow everything they've lost wouldn't be for nothing.

It was then a bright light shone from the river and and illuminated the two men standing helplessly on the shore of Shandor Island. Hank and Ray stood motionless, stunned, in the single intense spotlight.

"Is that... a boat?" Ray asked as he lifted his hand and shield his eye from the light beaming from the incoming vessel. "But... how?!"

The boat sped toward the sinking island and pulled itself dangerously close to the shoreline to allow the escaping men a new chance to flee the island.

"Who cares? Come on!" Hank urged as he raced toward the boat and raised a hand to the lone pilot of the vessel to take. Stones plummeted into the river as they fell freely from the crumbling island and castle causing large splashes in the river and thunderous impacts on the surface. "We have a shot to get out of here!"

"One shot's all we need..." Ray replied as he charged after Hank and made it to the boat just seconds later. Helping Hank to climb inside the boat with John still draped helplessly over his shoulder. Lifting Hank's foot up he was able to climb up onto the deck without shaking John around too much.

The intense light made it nearly impossible to see beyond the boat itself, but the figure of the lone rescuer was evident as he helped Hank to set John down on the surface of the deck before turning his attention to Ray himself.

"Thanks for coming for us!" Ray exclaimed as he happily grabbed onto the pilot's hand and let the pilot practically drag himself up onto the deck of the boat from the wavering shoreline.

Laying Janosz's body down softly Ray turned to see Hank kneeling with John leaning up against his legs.

"No problem, now let's get the hell out of here." The familiar voice greeted happily before returning to the controls to steer the boat clear of the sinking island.

Ray fell to his knees onto the deck of the boat with wide eyes and an emotional stammer choking his voice. "P-Peter?!"

 _ **...to be continued...**_


	17. On the Other Side

As the rescue boat sped off from the rapidly sinking Shandor Island to the safety of the pier just inside the city limits, Ray and Hank looked back at the island with a mixture of horror and relief in their eyes as they realized how closely they had just come to their own demise. The waves atop the river were violently and choppy as the massive portion of sinking land disturbed the natural water flow around it.

Quickly the shoreline was drowned in the river as the castle ruins were swept under the waves. Stone by stone the eerie remnants of Shandor Castle were submerged in the darkness of the river leaving no trace of Vigo's former stronghold behind.

"We made it..." Hank exhaled weakly as pressed his fingers against John's neck. The downed man had an increasingly weak pulse and was barely palpable even as Hank pressed down. "John, look man. There's the skyline."

John had lost a lot of blood. Breathing in shallow, wheezing gasps he struggled to open his one eye and look out to the city he called home. "We... made it."

Ray put a hand to jaw and rubbed thoughtfully as he watched his ally's life slipping away. Looking into the cabin of the absconded boat he stared at Peter's face in absolute gratitude knowing that his friend had found him and saved his life. It was then he remembered that Janosz wasn't as fortunate.

As a sign of respect Ray located a white sheet from a storage compartment on the deck of the boat and draped the clean fabric over Jaosz's body. "I'm sorry Janosz, but at least you're free from Vigo."

John began coughing harshly, blood splattering over his lips and staining what little portions of his jumpsuit that weren't already stained in blood. His whole body was trembling with muscle spasms and cold as his body continued to weaken and fail from his fatal injuries.

Hank moved John from his legs and gently down onto the surface of the deck. Keeping one hand under John's head and the other atop John's own hand Hank held his partner; his best friend, as he laid dying.

"Take it easy John," Hank soothed as John struggled to catching his escaping breath between coughs. "it's over. You can rest now."

Ray slowly walked over to where John was laying and knelt down beside the heroic man. "You saved us. You saved the city."

From the cabin of the boat Peter could see that something horrific had just transpired on the island. Slowing the boat to a gentler speed he left the cabin to join Ray and understand what it was he had missed.

"Ray?" Peter knelt down at Ray's side. "What the hell happened back there? Who is this?"

"Peter." Ray smiled a little. "I'd like you to meet Dr. John Venkman."

"John... Venkman?" Peter's inquisitive brow arched in response to the name. "Do I know him?"

John smiled at Peter's reaction and coughed a little. "I see... the resemblance..." He joked lightly. "You keep... good company... Ray."

"John," Hank's hand tightened around John's as his friend's life began slipping away. "I just want you to know that working alongside you has been an honor." Hank's eyes began to glisten with intense emotion as he tried his hardest to retain his composure. "You gave me an incredible opportunity and I regret absolutely nothing."

John squeezed Hank's hand appreciatively as he was now too weak to speak.

"Do you remember the first day I started training and when the proton pack went off I jumped back, dropped the thrower and burned a hole in the ceiling?" Hank was starting to laugh which made John smirk. "Joel wasn't happy about the burn mark, but at least it gave that bland white ceiling some character. You never even got mad at me, you just laughed and told me to try again."

Ray couldn't help but think back to his own first day of using the proton pack. How he and Egon had nearly panicked in the Sedgewick Hotel and opened fire on an innocent maid just trying to go about her business. The owners of the hotel weren't as amused by the incident as the Ghostbusters had been, but the hotel repaired the damage in a couple days.

Hank took a deep breath and continued on. "I'm going to rebuild the Ghostbusters, John." His voice was betraying the brave front he had put on to keep his sorrow at bay. "I'm going to find Tiyah, we're going to regroup and we're going to bring the city back to life. It's just... It's just going to be so different working and knowing you won't be there beside me."

John's eye began to close slowly as his breathing became more and more labored. Ray reached out and put his hand on John's chest to try to offer some form of comfort to the dying man. Peter, helpless to do anything but watch, chose to show the same level of compassion and put his hand on John's arm.

"John, you weren't just my colleague, my team mate or my partner, you were my best friend." Hank's head bowed in mourning as he choked on his own words. "And I can't imagine being a Ghostbuster without you. So, I'm not going to say goodbye to you tonight." He lifted his head again and cleared this throat. "I'll just say 'see you later'."

John's voice was pitiful and barely a whisper, but somehow the fading man found the strength to utter one final farewell to his gathered colleagues. "See you on the other side..."

At those final words John's breath escaped his body as it went limp and still on the deck of the boat. Hank's hand never let go of John's even as John's grip had faded into nothingness beneath his grip.

Hank'd breath hitched in his throat as he bent down and pressed his ear to John's stilled, quiet chest. Closing his eyes tightly as he could no longer hear John's heart beating Hank sat back on his knees, John's dark blood staining the side of his face, and bowed his head in deep woe as his partner lay dead beside him.

Peter gently retracted his hand from John's arm and put it on Ray's shoulder as Ray began to silently weep. "I'm sorry Ray." He whispered empathetically to his friend. "I'll get us to the pier as quickly as possible."

Ray only nodded as he and Hank stayed at John's side in lamentable silence.

The boat hastened its speed and cut through the river toward the city in the distance. The heavy atmosphere that was hung over the vacated populous had lightened immensely. The sounds of birds singing filled the air for the first time in weeks as life slowly began to return to the fled city streets. The sky brightened and the air cleared.

The dark influence of Vigo's reign had been eradicated.

It was a tensely morose affair when Hank, Ray and Peter carefully lifted John's body out of the boat and placed him in the back of the ambulance that had become this Ghostbusting team's Ecto-1. Hank stayed with John in the back of the ambulance while Ray and Peter turned their attention to Janosz. They couldn't leave him behind and so was placed beside John.

"Come on." Peter encouraged Ray with a pat on the shoulder. "Let's get back to the firehouse."

The drive was slow but it felt like an entire lifetime had passed by within the blink of an eye as Peter took the group back to their headquarters.

Ray and Peter exited the ambulance while Hank remained with John. Awkwardly Peter motioned for Ray to follow him into the small office containing the radio to the outside and the equipment that Peter had brought with him from their own world.

"This will get us back home. It just needs a dose of slime to power it up enough to send up back through." Peter stated as he pointed to the prototype and PKE meter. "Egon was sure you'd know how to activate everything and come back to our world, but I just wanted to be sure."

"Thanks Peter." Ray was surprisingly grateful for Peter's stubbornness in this situation. "I'm glad you found us. Especially since, you know, we were about to... Uh..."

"Yeah, no problem Ray." Peter knew where Ray's mind was heading and spared him the pain of admitting it. "I'm just glad I got there when I did."

"How'd you even know where we were?"

"Oh, well, Peck of all people gave me a head's up."

"Peck? Wally?" Ray smirked devilishly. "Please tell me you were nice to him."

"Relax Ray, I know we're a guest in this world so I was good." He pointed to a notepad with words hastily scrawled over the surface. "Wally called when I came here looking for you and he told me that his people outside the city had detected a major shift in the energy levels on the island. According to their readings a massive dip in the power was causing the island to destabilize and would surely sink. Guess they were right."

"It's a good thing you were here to get the call. And thanks for coming after me."

"Don't worry about it, you would've done the same for me." Peter nodded at the ambulance. "But what can we do for them?"

"I think I know." Ray decided with a sorrowful breath. It would be an emotionally trying experience but he needed to do his part for his new friends. "It's the least we can do."

 _...one week later..._

On the word of Wally Peck and his many contacts and resources the city had returned to rebuild and restore what once was lost. Gathered in a large group of respectful mourners and gracious citizens, the four Ghostbusters who had lost their lives while confronting Vigo were finally being laid to rest in a proper burial in the cemetery. Janosz had righteously devastated relatives claim his body and give him a proper burial in his homeland.

John, Joel, Mason and Rachel were laid to rest alongside each other; the team finally reunited in the aftermath of Vigo's onslaught of terror and domination.

Hank, along with his wife Tiyah, stood at the four grave sites with Ray and Peter standing on either side of them.

The families that gathered to mourn seemed to expand to the horizon. Parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and childhood friends were in attendance. However, there seemed to be only Ray, Peter, Hank and Tiyah to act as family for John.

Ray gently nudged Hank's arm with the back of his hand. "Hey, uh, is this it? I mean, where's John's family?"

Hank whispered very discreetly without his voice breaking. "John was an orphan. The Ghostbusters were the only true family he ever had."

Ray swallowed a lump of emotional grief as it well up in his throat. Peter could see that Ray was losing his cool and quickly reached over to put a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Standing just behind the four headstones was a large monument erected in their honor and to commemorate their sacrifice in the name of good over evil. Carved in white marble was the famous 'no ghost' logo, and engraved in a gilded plaque on the base were the immortal words: "We're Ready To Believe You".

It seemed as though the entire city had gathered to pay their respects to the fallen four heroes. Hundreds upon thousands of flowers had been laid above the graves and at the memorial. Cards littered the front of the firehouse, candles burned in honor of the Ghostbusters in a small altar placed outside the firehouse and thousands of dollars had been donated to the company in an effort to rebuild and continue to protect the city.

Wally stood tall at a podium to deliver final words of respect to the fallen heroes, an act that Peter swore he'd never see Peck perform back on his world.

"As we lay our fallen guardians to rest; Johnathan 'John' Jacob Venkman, Joel Mitchell Kingston, Rachel Nichole Robinson and Mason Robert quill, let us remember all that they stood for. Courage, kindness, knowledge, open mindedness and above all else; the willingness to believe. To believe in the supernatural, to believe in the paranormal, and to believe in you. So long as we remember to believe in ourselves we'll honor their sacrifices to keep us safe, to keep us alive and to keep us believing."

After the eulogy grieving mourners left behind flowers and cards before taking their leave. The cemetery slowly emptied as the ceremony came to a close.

Ray approached John's grave and tossed a single white lily that rested atop of the massive pile of flowers. "I'm glad we had the chance to meet, pal."

Peter, not wanting to accidentally say anything offensive or bizarre, kept his silence and followed Ray like a shadow as Wally nodded in respect to the remaining Ghostbusters before he too left the cemetery after saying his final words to his fallen friends.

Ray was doing his best to keep his head low to avoid speaking to the mourning family members of his fellow Ghostbusters. It wasn't that we was unsympathetic toward their pain, just the opposite, it was that Ray didn't feel as though he had the right to speak to them. Any question they could ask about himself or Peter would have to be a lie because the truth was either too bizarre or too painful to accept.

Hank stretched out his hand for Peter to shake. "Thank you for saving my life." He shook gratefully and Tiyah did the same. "I never had the chance to thank you before and I wanted to do so before you leave. Thank you."

Peter nodded once and reciprocated the appreciation. "You helped Ray out when he had nobody and gave him the chance to find his way home. As far as I'm concerned saving your life was just the beginning."

Tiyah wrapped her hands around Hank's arm and rested her head against his shoulder. "So what're you two going to do when you get back home?"

Ray answered with a twinge of confidence in his voice. "We'll find a way to keep the door between our worlds open and stable, maybe even perfect the technology for transporting spirits from planes of the living and over to the plane of the dead." Ray extended his hand for Hank. "If you need anything you know who to call."

"Yeah," Hank shook Ray's hand appreciatively. "the Ghostbusters."

* * *

Egon and Winston had been keeping vigil over the prototype they had set up in the basement of the firehouse. There had been little activity emitted by the device after Peter leapt into the opened portal and there seemed to be no sign of his immediate return. A PKE meter had been set next to the prototype on the floor to read any potential energy level changes, but the needle hadn't budged.

"It's been a week." Winston sighed as he stared at the lifeless hunk of metal in the basement. "Maybe the portal is a one-way door."

Egon shook his head. "No. If we can open the door from our side then there must be a way to open the door from their side." Egon adjusted his glasses and pushed the frames higher up on the bridge of his nose. "If they can't return to our world from the world they arrived in, then the most likely reason is..." He trailed off as the notion of his two friends being lost forever was an emotional drain he hadn't anticipated.

"Come on Egon," Winston refused to admit the possibility of never seeing their colleagues again. "if anyone can find a way home from another dimension it's Ray!"

"That's what worries me."

Before Winston had the chance to say anything further the PKE meter began to screech as the needle danced in the display gauge.

"What in the...?"

A burst of bright light emerged from the prototype as a thin portal manifested from seemingly nothingness.

Egon and Winston shielded their eyes as two figures emerged from the portal and set foot in the basement. Slime dripped from their clothes and stuck to their hair.

"We're back." Peter's voice practically sang as he and Ray stepped away from the prototype. "Miss us?"

"Peter!" Winston called out as he took a step forward to greet him. "Ray!"

"Ray..." Egon sounded as shocked as he was relieved. "Peter."

Having changed from their black suits from the funeral and back into their jumpsuits, the two men looked as though they had tread through the depths of Hell itself.

"You're back!" Egon put his hands on Ray's slimy shoulders as if he needed to make sure Ray was physically standing in front of him and not just a hallucination. "Where have you been? What happened?"

Ray reached his own hands up and pulled Egon's hands from his shoulders. "It's a long story."

"We have all the time in the world." Egon insisted as he mentally calmed himself, knowing that Ray and Peter had made it back home safe. "Come on. You two need to shower and I need to run a few scans. You can tell us what happened afterward."

Winston put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "You know, jumping into that portal was really stupid."

"Yeah, I know." Peter admitted with a childlike grin.

"But I'm glad you went for it."

"I am too, believe it or not."

"Hey, in this line of work I'm ready to believe _anything_!"

Egon put his hand on Ray's shoulder and guided him out of the basement and back up to the first floor of the firehouse. Winston and Peter followed closely behind with their heads held high and confidence restored.

Janine heard the voices coming from the basement and rushed from her desk just in time to greet Ray as he reached the top of the stairs. "Ray!" She wrapped him in a big hug. "Thank God you're back!"

"Hi Janine." Ray tightened his arms around her and embraced her, not realizing how good it felt to hug someone after enduring such dread. "I'm home."

Peter called out a few feet behind Ray. "I'm here too, ya' know!"

"Yeah," Janine shot Peter a dirty look from over Ray's shoulder. "I know."

"Missed you, too." Peter responded sarcastically as Janine finally let Ray go.

Egon pushed for Ray to continue walking. "Tests."

"Right, right. I'm going."

Janine smoothed out the wrinkles on her blouse as the four men proceeded to walk up to the second floor. "Dinner is on me tonight, boys. We need to celebrate!"

* * *

Sitting on a stool with the aura video analyzer strapped to his head, Ray painfully recounted the events that happened on the second world to Egon and Winston, who sat quietly absolutely transfixed by the story. Peter already knew the details but chose to sit it anyway for Ray's sake.

"Man, sounds like you went through a war." Winston commented sympathetically. "Is there anything we can do?"

"No," Ray shook his head as he peeled the sensors from his temples. "I just want to get back to my old routine and try not to think about it anymore."

"I'm just glad you weren't alone when you went over to the other world." Winston tried to cast a cheerier light onto the subject. "Sounds like this John was a great job."

Peter interjected, unable to stop himself. "John _Jacob_..." He reaffirmed before singing the final bit. "Jingleheimerschmidt..."

Ray and Winston just shot Peter a dirty look as he began humming the childhood limerick to himself.

"What? I waited before I said it!"

Egon finished analyzing the read out of Ray's scan and the residual PKE signature. "Everything appears normal Ray. Your blood test shows you're a little anemic but I think that can be resolved naturally through rest."

Peter dared to speak up, knowing that Egon was still angry at him for taking such a terrible risk back at the museum. "How do my test results look?"

"Venkman," Egon cleared his throat and looked at the clipboard in his hands. "aside from having a severe case of bullheadedness and reckless abandon, you're also fine. No trace of infection or dip in your vital signs."

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Peter asked while batting his eyelashes pathetically.

"No." Egon didn't want to laugh and so he looked away. "It'd help if you would stop misplacing your anger and leaping to conclusions."

"No promises, but I'll try."

Egon finally gave Peter a bemused smirk. "That's a start."

"Guys..." Winston had enough of the brotherly bonding for one day. "Can we just agree to never use the prototype as an inter dimensional gate unless we know EXACTLY what's going to happen?"

"Best idea I've heard today." Peter sided with Winston. "Let's leave traveling between worlds to the crew of the Enterprise, huh?"

While the guys joked lightheartedly Ray sat in unrequited sorrow. While he was happy to be home, to be surrounded by his friends and family once again, Ray couldn't help but linger on the events in the second world on the pain that Hank and Tiyah would surely endure for years to come. Ray and Peter were free to return to their own world and pick up their lives where they had left off, but for the Ghostbusters in another world things could never go back to how they once were.

"What do you say, Ray?" Winston addressed the melancholy engineer. "Want to go out for dinner? Get a beer?"

"Yeah, yeah." Ray sighed and did his best to hide his lingering malaise. "I could go for a drink. First round's on me."

* * *

That night after extensive testing, scanning, questions and answers Ray was exhausted. Janine had treated the team to a nice dinner in celebration of Ray and Peter's safe return home but the joyous festivity was nothing but a facade for Ray as he was still mourning the loss of a friend from another world. Peter was the only one who knew how much John's death had affected him, and out of respect gave Ray personal space.

Taking Egon and Winston aside Peter told them about everything Ray had been through and about the other Ghostbusters who had lost their lives in the line of duty. The grief was mutual and palpable across the two worlds. How Ray had befriended them and felt guilt for John's death despite having no responsibility for what had happened in the castle.

For Ray it was strange to be laying down in the safety of his own bed in the firehouse, staring at the old ceiling and listening to his three colleagues breathing as they slept in the surrounding beds.

Winston was sleeping soundly in the bed directly across from Ray, his posture relaxed and slumber peaceful. Peter dozed in the bed to Winston's left just as carefree and just as deeply. Egon slept in the bed to Ray's left, a physics textbook laid open over his chest. All three men were safe, all were still alive and Ray knew deep down in his heart that he'd do everything in his power to keep the team together.

Folding his arms under his head Ray took in a deep breath and finally drifted off to sleep.

"You know," a familiar voice called out to Ray just as his eyes shut. "you and me share a bond that we've only just begun to understand."

Ray's eyes shot open and traced the voice to a figure sitting on the edge of his bed. The figure was broadly built, wearing a black suit, a black hat and had a dark pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

"John?" Ray asked as he sat upright in his bed. "So it was you. You're my spirit guardian."

"Bingo." John pointed at Ray with a cheesy grin. "Turns out the reason I had a feeling that I met you before it because I already had, in your _dreams_."

"Two years of time difference between our worlds..." Ray realized with a twinge of excitement. "By my time you had already passed away which is why I knew you before we even met."

"Yeah, time travel!" John extended his arms dramatically. "What a concept!"

"But shouldn't you be looking after Hank?"

"Hank? Who says I'm not?" John lowered his glasses and winked at Ray. "You think you're so special that you get a spirit guardian all to yourself? I even spent a night chatting with Janine after she had a close encounter of her own. Damn she's feisty..."

Ray smiled and laughed. "I wish I could've done more to save you John."

"Hey, relax. Everything happens for a reason. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when it's your time to be a spirit guardian."

"My time? Am I...?"

"Nah! You still got a few decades under your belt pal." John replaced his sunglasses casually. "Just do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"Stop blaming yourself." John insisted firmly. "I don't blame you, Hank doesn't blame you... You shouldn't blame yourself either."

Ray shook his head despondently but gave John an affirmative stare. "I'll try."

"Trying is the first step, pal." John stood up from the edge of the bed and fastened the button on the front of his suit coat confidently. "Now, get some sleep. I'll see you again when you need me. Until then, take care."

Ray watched as John strolled casually out of the bunk room, through the door frame and steadily faded away as the spirit took his dramatic leave of the firehouse.

"Thanks John." Ray smiled as he laid back down and turned onto his right side comfortably. He stared at the wall for a moment then shut his eyes as a sense of peace and warmth washed over him. "You really did see me on the other side."

 ** _-The End_  
**


End file.
